Fantasy Cutscenes #2/ Five in One by Paul B Davis
This piece of artwork made me laugh and think about the limitations of video games; specifically those by Nintendo. This artwork piece was made by Paul B Davis, who is the founding member of BEIGE Programming Ensemble along with Joe Beuckman, Cory Arcangel and Joseph Bonn. His Nintendo work first premiered in the year 2000. BEIGE members hack NES systems to create a distinct and unique genre of work, which can be viewed internationally. This type of piece is also an example of cut scenes. It is kind of like a mini story: the viewer can picture Mario just standing there and trying to do something, but no matter how hard he tries to he just can’t; so he makes a joke about how Marijuana is a good time filler.
Davis, along with the other BEIGE members, likes to play along the lines of authorship of the software. At first this art piece bothered me for personal reasons, namely, my dislike of marijuana and the message that I thought it portrayed. However, I started to think more in depthly of where it could go and it made more sense to me the more I thought about it. It points out the gray areas of the authorship of this specific software(NES) and how it can be hacked and toyed around with when many would think its set in stone. It made me think of marijuana in the same way regarding the law. Is marijuana really something harmless like hacking into a video game to make it art? Is it a gray area of not being legal but still being done (kind of like how hacking is looked at), and how it can have many different sides to a story (it can help treat the symptoms of cancer, but can also be used for the satisfaction that it gives of getting someone high). There are so many gray areas in life and I feel that this kind of portrays that.
What does everyone else think of this piece? I recommend you check out BEIGE and his artwork because he is a very talented, creative, and educated person.
P.S. My favourite piece of this artwork is the second one (which is the first one on the first row).
