The 1980s is an era of innovation and creativity. During this period, technology starts making its way into the musical bands as synthetic instruments; Star trek II used the first completely Computer-Generated Cenemetic image (CGI); Video games such as Pack-man, Tetris and Mario bros. are made to change the video game histories.
Adam Lister is an artist who spent his childhood in this period, and his experiences helped him become a pixel artist who mainly uses watercolour to create remix works based on the volumes, such as films, comics or paintings.
Beckett Mufson interviewed Lister about his concept of using pixel art style to create remix volumes. Lister mentioned he grew up with video games that were mainly pixelated due to the limitation of technologies, but now it is a symbol of ‘retro’ that can bring out the vintage feel from his work.
As we can see from the images above, video games in the 80s were mainly pixelated but still brought joy to the world. The main reason is that it expresses the idea of beauty and focuses more on the ‘feelings’. Just like what Adam Lister did with his work, although he uses the existing characters to create a pixelated remix, the intention was to create ‘retro’ feelings’ instead of copying and pasting other people’s work.
In conclusion, we are experiencing the age of innovation, just like in the 80s. It is necessary to absorb valuable things from the old works and learn by remixing. However, we should not cross the boundary of copyright because it is essential to respect the preceding artists. Therefore, ask yourself a question before creating a remix volume: are you recreating the same thing or using it as a way to express your feelings?