Credits and commentaries after the jump.
Row 1:
64K shirt from pixelmuerto. My first computer was a commodore 64; this is how much RAM it had, 64K. The images in this post, optimized jpegs at 150px square, add up to more than that.
Pitfall scorpion pattern drawing from johnfreeborn. My first platform was an Atari 2600. The Atari game Pitfall involved leaping over scorpions in incredibly low-res 8bit. John here has isolated the Pitfall scorpion (truly a beautiful, houstoothesque conjunction of pixels) and made a fashiony repeating pattern out of it. He’s then deconstructed that pattern at the top, which reminds me strongly off the chaos at the edge of a round of the cellular automata game of Life (yes I’m a big geek but I covet ths drawing).
Row 2:
Happy Mac charm from sushifactory. So then we got a Mac 128 and the rest is history. The Happy Mac is an ineffable symbol of happiness to me (thanks Mac OS icon icon pioneer Susan Kare!) This one is beautifully made out of sterling silver.
Paint bucket and pen tool pins from janelloshea. By this point, I’m using a Mac every day. Several Macs a day. I sometimes use this tool. If I click and hold this pin, I expect to be able to access poured gradients. Good for wearing on your lapel if you’re the sort of graphic designer who kicks over cans of paint, like I am.
Row 3:
Space invaders scarf from wildcatdesigns. Here’s where I diverge from autobiography. I never really played space invaders. But those sprites are so damn iconic. This scarf is pretty awesome; love the colors.
Mario Coin box from lostmitten I wasn’t a SNES player either; that said I think the cleverness of creating a real box that looks like a Super Mario Bros box is terrific. You can fill it with real, or maybe chocolate, coins! And then dislodge them by hitting it from beneath! Lostmitten makes a ton of Nintendo pixelcraft, but this is by far my favorite.
Row 4:
Health meter pin from spugmeistress Another super-clever product;you can order this with the life meter at different stages. I personally think it would be a pretty rad project (a la Aimee Bender) to wear a variety of pins to show the world how you were feeling through the day or week: from I’m full of love to I’m really running on empty, one hit and it’s game over.
Street Fighter II sprites from alborada This seller describes the work as “sprites” and adds that they could be magnets or pins or wall decor; it’s unclear even exactly how large they are. What s clear is that they are meticulously accurate beadwork. This set (which also includes Ken from Street Fighter II delivering the punch) would look fantastic in any well-appointed rec room.
Row 5:
Skull pendant from sketchystories This one has no specific computer/game referent. It is just a pixel skull, in faceted sterling silver. Which is reaaaaaally cool. He made a heart one too which is equally lovely.
Desert painting from scothand Escaping sprites altogether, here’s a painter who like Chuck Close depicts hs subject through a gridded lens. I like that like the Impressonists, he finds unexpected warm pinks and reds in the rendering of a cactus. Pixellated canvasses are best hung at the end of a long hallway, where they might be encountered as an image at a distance and a grid of colored pixels as one approaches.
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