We may not know much about computer art at Vice but we know what we like, and right now we really like the computer art of computer artist Paul B. Davis. The good news for people like us is that Paul’s first solo show, Intentional Computing opens tomorrow and features the kind of work that makes you think, "I wish I’d done that." Stuff like hacking into Nintendo games and messing around with the chips so that instead of running around all the time, Super Mario gets stoned and lonely and ponders the existential nature of being. Clever stuff in the shape of fun.
A founding member of the Beige collective, Paul is a nerd and a gentleman trapped inside the body of a 29-year-old from St. Louis who’s lived in London for three years. Like most creative types, he has a range of projects on the go, including some Vice-related music bits. He also teaches Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London. Did you know he once released a record called "Enter The Mystical Faggot"?
Vice: When you get up in the morning, how do you decide whether to do art or music?
Paul: Usually I get worried about which one I’m sucking at. I worry that I do too many things not that well, rather than doing one thing really well, which is easier for a career. So I guess it depends if I need to finish a music project or if I have an idea for an art piece, then I’ll do that. It’s best when the two come together.
Like with your acclaimed album, The 8-Bit Construction Set?
Exactly. With The 8-Bit Construction Set I was able to merge conceptual stuff with a usable tool because there were weird art bits on the record. So I’d get emails back from DJs saying it’s great – Mixmaster Mike was playing it – and then I’d get an email from a museum saying they wanted to exhibit it. In terms of the art/music thing, that did both.
Sounds smart. Where did you go study?
I went to Oberlin in Ohio. Basically all the people that I still collaborate with now went there. Two of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were in my class, Brian and Karen. I saw Brian last time I was in Chicago and he showed me his tour bus and he was excited because the previous group that had used that bus was Journey.
Video art and computer art – what’s the difference?
The market for video art is 20 years ahead in terms of artist recognition and sales. When we were exhibiting our first shows, if we said it was new media art or computer art, no one cared. But if we called it video art, using the computer game as a readymade, then they’d love it.
What’s with the B?
The B stands for Benjamin. There are so many Paul Davises and the B is for Google searches.
* Paul’s exhibition runs from tomorrow at the Seventeen Gallery.
THANDIE B. NEUTRON
Reader Comments
May 29th, 2007
7:05 pm
I don’t think changing the sprites to unintelligible blocks constitutes art considering 14 year olds have been making Nude Zelda and KKK Mario hacks since 2001.
I’d have to see other stuff before I could condone this.
May 29th, 2007
7:32 pm
“Mario gets stoned and lonely and ponders” sounds absolutely RIVETING, but the roffley text in the screengrab makes it at least YouTube-tolerable.
May 30th, 2007
1:00 am
somebody’s ripping Corey Archangel off.
i smell an art lawsuit.
May 30th, 2007
1:38 am
My mates band’s new video. All 8-Bit styles, pretty cool, this dude might like it. Or perhaps some of you. It’s at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snoRbbXYXF0 Made by Nige Ward, http://www.willworkforfood.co.nz
May 30th, 2007
2:47 am
“When we were exhibiting our first shows, if we said it was new media art or computer art, no one cared. But if we called it video art, using the computer game as a readymade, then they’d love it.”
You mean like if you call certain beat-orientated music “electronica” instead of “Dance music” it sounds more credible to the indie hipster croud even though its exactly the same thing?
May 30th, 2007
8:43 am
he made mario into a square? that sucks
May 30th, 2007
2:49 pm
“somebody’s ripping Corey Archangel off.
i smell an art lawsuit.”
someone is dumb. i can smell someone dropping science.
paul and cory shared a dorm room at college. paul taught cory how to hack nintendos. they made a lot of collaborative work together in their collective BEIGE. they now make work together, apart and with other people. and indeed both paul and cory will admit that they were not the first ever to hack nintendo carts, that it is easy, and are both happy to teach people how to do it.
p.s. it’s cory arcangel. or do you mean corey archangel that fat guy from minnesota who is famous for winning the capri-son challenge?
May 30th, 2007
3:44 pm
Yeah I was about ot say the same as lektrogirl. Looks like you Vice readers put more time into your clever insults than reading the article or doing research on the artist/subject in question. Have any of you guys actually heard anything off of Beige Records or seen the post data site? Do you know what paperrad is?
I think this is the point when you pull up your 10Deep brand socks and stroke your stubble chin, push your horn-rimmed glasses up your nose, get defensive and make it clear that you’re soo hip and withit that you don’t have ot know anything about a subject before you talk shit cause you’re so intuitive like that.
gutted I can’t see the show. Still hoping Paul puts out that Planet-Mu release in the near future! Respeck.
May 30th, 2007
5:14 pm
Bet he cannie draw eh with like a pencil and paper an that. Still i guess he’s gettin paid fo that shite.
What a fucker.
May 30th, 2007
5:15 pm
“mark martelli”
What a fucker.
June 1st, 2007
4:05 pm
Just saw the show and was really impressed. The “square” Mario piece is an old one (2000) that predates any other NES hack/art I’ve ever seen. The compression video piece had really nice decompositions/fragmentations and the new NES hack was quite cheeky. Well done.