A documentary on the history of 8-bit art, on PBS? The Evolution of 8-Bit Art is the latest installment in PBS' fantastic OffBook web video series, which has showcased reddit, graffiti, generative art and Lego-based art in previous episodes.
The brief but engaging eight-minute doc – which sports an appropriately seizure-inducing, psychedelic intro – traces the 8-bit aesthetic over the past three decades, from the early days of Atari and Nintendo to the present day. Featuring interviews with 8-bit practitioners Jesper Juul, Doctor Octoroc, Minusbaby, Anthony Sneed and chiptune band Anamanaguchi, the doc covers an impressive amount of ground in a short amount of time. The simplicity and minimalism of 8-bit art – and its capability for provoking extreme bouts of nostalgia – is part of what makes the aesthetic so powerful, according to the interview subjects.
"It's becoming its own respected art form," says Doctor Octoroc, the brains behind wildly popular 8-bit renditions of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Man vs. Wild, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who, among others.
"Today, why would a child pick up a guitar and not a computer?" argues a member of 8-bit band Anamanaguchi in the documentary. "Because on a computer, you can have a guitar and any other sound you can possibly imagine."
The band is far too young to have actually lived through the days of Atari and Amiga. They don't have nostalgic associations with the sounds; they just think the sounds are cool. "Maybe in 25 years, the Atari 2600 will be so far away from our memory that it will sound like the future," muses the chiptune musician Minusbaby. For them, everything old is new again.
