8-Bit Sabbatical
Location
FA-153
Department
Art
Abstract
Three years ago, my fellow students and I were subjected to an unprecedented extra week of spring break. While this may have initially seemed to be a dream come true to those uninvested in the news, the grim reality of the situation would soon rear its ugly head. March 2020 was the start of the global lockdown due to the Covid19 pandemic. The experience was surreal. People were going stir crazy, the economy was imploding, riots, claustrophobia, and the realization that we were living through a historical event. There were so many people shouting at each other over what to do even though we had no plan ahead of time. During my time, I found myself facing my own trials and tribulations. For while the media rightfully pressed the need to stay home, they did not take into account that social distancing is not the one size fits all solution. I found myself living in a hostile environment that forced me out into the world. This led me to experiences good and bad that would change my life. My work chronicles my pursuit to re engage with the world. I recreate and alter screenshots of various video games and use them to illustrate difficult and happy moments in my life during the longest spring break in human history. My imagery includes family tragedies, getting and losing jobs, and my overall mental state. The personal purpose will be an emotional catharsis as the exhibition will give a voice to both my trauma and joy the other people have brought to me for the past three years. The reason I chose to represent these experiences through video game imagery is to provide a safe filter for some of the heavier subject matter. I would juxtapose the harsh realities with the fantasy of these games. I chose retro games due to the fact that they, by their nature, have a minimalistic quality to the images due to lack of modern-day graphics. A lot of retro games told their stories through silent visuals.
Faculty Sponsor
Nate Mathews, Northeastern Illinois University
8-Bit Sabbatical
FA-153
Three years ago, my fellow students and I were subjected to an unprecedented extra week of spring break. While this may have initially seemed to be a dream come true to those uninvested in the news, the grim reality of the situation would soon rear its ugly head. March 2020 was the start of the global lockdown due to the Covid19 pandemic. The experience was surreal. People were going stir crazy, the economy was imploding, riots, claustrophobia, and the realization that we were living through a historical event. There were so many people shouting at each other over what to do even though we had no plan ahead of time. During my time, I found myself facing my own trials and tribulations. For while the media rightfully pressed the need to stay home, they did not take into account that social distancing is not the one size fits all solution. I found myself living in a hostile environment that forced me out into the world. This led me to experiences good and bad that would change my life. My work chronicles my pursuit to re engage with the world. I recreate and alter screenshots of various video games and use them to illustrate difficult and happy moments in my life during the longest spring break in human history. My imagery includes family tragedies, getting and losing jobs, and my overall mental state. The personal purpose will be an emotional catharsis as the exhibition will give a voice to both my trauma and joy the other people have brought to me for the past three years. The reason I chose to represent these experiences through video game imagery is to provide a safe filter for some of the heavier subject matter. I would juxtapose the harsh realities with the fantasy of these games. I chose retro games due to the fact that they, by their nature, have a minimalistic quality to the images due to lack of modern-day graphics. A lot of retro games told their stories through silent visuals.