The world has gone 8-bit crazy. It has, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image’s April 24 premiere of director Marcin Ramocki’s film 8 Bit: A Documentary About Art And Videogames is proof of this fact.
If you happen to live near the ACMI (pro tip: It’s in Melbourne) and have a keen interest in the history of art in games, then you should contemplate paying the institution a visit. Ramocki will be in attendance to field questions, so it’s definitely worth the effort.
DJ Trip will also be at the premiere. Trip has a love of 8-bit music, which is why he’ll be back at the ACMI on May 4 for Game-O-Rama.
Read on to see a special document designed to inform one of the specifics of this event. A press release, in other words.
8 BIT: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ART AND VIDEOGAMES (USA) – Australian premiere screening 24 April, at ACMI
Q & A by director Marcin Ramocki (New York) / 8 Bit live performance by DJ Trip (AUS): http://www.acmi.net.au/gameon_8bit.aspx
8 Bit is the new feature from New York-based director Marcin Ramocki, chronicling the relatively recent history of video game-based art. The film had its world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art and voted by ArtForum as one of the year’s ten best films.
What is “8 Bit”?
Best known as music form – 8 Bit artists use vintage videogame technology such as the Commodore 64 and the Atari 2600 to create the music. The 8 Bit genre has a long history dating back to the early ’80s, with bands such as Kraftwek who included videogame blips and beeps in their famous song “Computer world”. These days, 8 Bit has a world wide dedicated following – not only are there several websites dedicated to this artform, but 8 Bit events attract substantial crowds, particularly in Europe where over 5000 people might attend an live 8 Bit performance or festival.This current interest in 8 Bit music is not surprising given that many of the people making music now are in their ’20s & 30s and grew up playing games and have a huge nostalgic fondness for them, plus working versions of old videogames, computers and consoles have serious collectable cache these days given their rarity and enormous retro value.Marcin will be in Melbourne for the premiere and will be conducted an audience Q & A after the event.
The screening of 8 Bit on April 24 will also feature a special set from DJ Trip, one of Australia’s best known exponents of ‘8 Bit’ music (both as composer and DJ). DJ Trip is shortly launching his new EP ‘Sid Vicious’, featuring a stack of tunes created with the good old Commodore, the Amiga and the Nintendo Game Boy.
DJ Trip returns to Melbourne in May:
• On Sun 4 May for Game-O-Rama (ACMI) on May, a day-long event for videogame collectors (organised to coincide with Game On), where he will perform and also be one of the guest speakers (see http://www.acmi.net.au/gameon_gameorama.aspx )
• On Thurs 8 May at The Corner, supporting John Foxx (ex-Ultravox, UK)
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