Diary of a mad curator (pt 1)

Or: how i am 8-bit—an art show devised out of an unbridled love for 80s videogame nostalgia—came to be.

PRESENT DAY: 2006

Just to be clear: I’ve never actually kept a real diary—not about this, not ever.
    Sure, I made a few haphazard attempts at blogging, but life (i.e. laziness) always got the best of me. Hell, I never knew that i am 8-bit would drop, explode, and plume into the mushroom cloud of a brand that it’s become. No one did (except my mom, who thought my 3rd Grade Science Fair revelation for flavoured shoelaces would change the world). That’s like Da Vinci anticipating a best-selling book that, centuries later, would depend so heavily on his Mona Lisa as a plot device, that he had some toga-wearing lawyers draft a residuals contract. Yeah, okay, dropping Da Vinci’s name is a bit much—but here’s my story anyway, foggily remembered and thoroughly tweaked for dramatic purposes…

REWIND: Saturday, July 17, 2004

When I walked into Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in Los Angeles today, I didn’t know shit about curating an art show. I wasn’t nervous; I just wasn’t confident either. But I had an idea—and I had to get it out of my head, regardless of the reaction.
    Thank god Katie Cromwell and Jensen Karp, the owners of the gallery, were children of the 80s. (Finnigan, the resident gallery dog—an adorable, yet snappy, Mini Pinscher—is far too young to remember Burger Time). So I pitched them my crazy plan: to gather a bunch of artists together and have them paint their old-school gaming memories.
    There are so many iconic characters that constantly get overshadowed by the Halo’s of the world. But if you think about it, Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Mega Man, Link, Q*Bert—these are the celebrities of the gaming mega-verse… and they’ll far outlive any crappy excuse for a modern mascot like Lara Croft. Big tits only get you so far. Besides, I prefer modestly proportioned ladies, anyway.
    Well, Jensen and Katie went for it.
    Woohoo! (Sound effects always look weird typed down.)
    Having come from a journalism background, one that involved writing about pixels and polygons since I was 15, they weren’t worried about my inexperience. At least it didn’t seem like it. There was an instant bond between us. One of those unspoken nods. We knew we’d cover each others asses, fill in the blanks, roll with the punches. Or at least that’s the impression I got… otherwise we were in for a lot of fucking trouble.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

I thought of the perfect name for the art show: Beyond the Pixel. Wait! Shit! Seeing that on paper isn’t quite as cool as it was in my head. I’m an idiot.

Friday, August 13, 2004

i am 8-bit. There, that’s a better name! Luckily no one will ever know my original concept—what a stupid fucking idea. That’s why it’s good to sleep on things.
    But, seriously, what is it about being in the shower and having profound revelations? It doesn’t really make sense. And why do people write questions in diaries? It’s not like anyone is going to answer them.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Over lunch, Katie, Jensen and I met to finalize the list of artists that would be contributing to i am 8-bit. There’s already 80 or so… but I get the sinking feeling that it’s just going to keep growing. Will we have the space? I hope so.
    It’s really fascinating how it all came together—I recruited about 50-percent, while Katie and Jensen found the other half. Some were friends, some were gallery regulars, but others came from the most unexpected of places, like MySpace.
    Jensen was just clicking through profiles one day and came upon this dude named Greg “Craola” Simkins. His day job is working at Treyarch, the videogame developer in LA who made the Spider-Man series, as an environment artist. This guy works in polygons all day long, yet he has this really amazing grasp of painting—so bizarre. I guess you gotta pay the bills, but man, this guy could be a superstar.
    Oh, I also got a stomach ache from a tuna sandwich from Quizno’s. But I like them so damn much. I think it was the mayonnaise.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

I’m getting really excited about the show! Our lineup of artists is pretty amazing, and it just keeps getting better. Besides, curating an exhibition like this is an excuse to work with all my friends and put their paintings on the wall. Gabe Swarr, Tony Mora, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Sandra Equihua, Katie Rice, Gerald De Jesus. I almost took for granted that all these great artists were my regular pals. We’d go to movies on the weekend, play games after work. But for as little as they do it for their day jobs, they are all pretty fucking gifted.
    Even better than that, though, is being introduced to so many other talented folks: Joe Ledbetter, Thomas Han, Luke Chueh, Blaine Fontana, Bob Dob, Doug Murphy (a.k.a. Plasticfucker—but he says he’s thinking about changing his name since no magazines will write about him. Prudes!).
    Man, I can’t wait to see what everyone paints!

Friday, December 17, 2004

Gabe just showed me the final i am 8-bit website design. It’s great.
    I wanted something that maintained the retro appeal of the show, something really low-res. Well, he delivered it in full-on Flash animation. One particular point that he was super proud of is that all the sprites—from Frogger to Pac-Man—were made to scale (i.e. you know, if they all co-existed in the same world, that’s how they would stack up next to one another). Kinda dorky, yeah, but it’s all in the details!

Saturday, December 25, 2004

I’m visiting the family back in Michigan. It’s cold. Fucking cold. And snowing. And Christmas. And my mom bought me socks again. Next year, I’m getting her a bottle of ketchup and a scratch-off lottery ticket. Well, I guess she tries—at least they weren’t white socks.

Monday, January 10, 2005

About a dozen or so pieces have floated in already. Even though the official deadline isn’t until April 1, I wanted a few paintings to reel the media in with—an event like this is nothing without exposure, so it’s time for me to put on my PR hat.
    Ironically, I’ve been offered a few public relations jobs in the past—I guess people think I’m a good pitchman—but I never wanted to do that kind of work. I’m a writer by trade. That’s my passion; hawking shitty products is not. But i am 8-bit is a passion project, so I don’t mind whoring myself out to get a little exposure for what is looking to be a very cool art show.
    As hard as it was to envision what this show would be last July, it’s starting to culminate into something pretty special. Hopefully all the art is as good as Thomas Han’s Super Mushroom Boogie or Peter Gronquist’s shockingly cool Pac-Man grenade.

Tuesday, February 1, 2005

And so it starts… Game Informer’s website unveiled i am 8-bit to the masses today. It’s pretty exciting to see it as the headline story. The editor, Billy Berghammer, is to thank for it. When I showed him the preview art for the show, he was almost more excited than I was.
    Some other major stories are booked in magazines, too: FHM, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Marc Ecko’s urban style guide, Complex.
    Man, what have I gotten myself wrapped up in?

This is the first in a two-part ‘diary’, written by iam8bit curator, Jon Gibson, especially for JumpButton.