man vs machine by nvc crew
personally i feel the NVC Crew not only does superb custom work (on vinyl toys), but also pushes the "art" aspect of the craft and even the exploring of realms beyond traditional art-toys (as it were) and this time, they've created yet another amazing piece of work, IMHO.
The NVC Crew were invited to contribute for the "i AM 8-Bit" show (a tribute art show based on 8-bit videogames), organized by Gallery 1988, and for the show, they decided to make a tribute to the MEGAMAN series, in their entry titled: Man Vs Machine. this is a video recording of Dr.Bao demonstrating "circuit bending" on their customed diorama:
i had a chance to talk to Dr.Bao of NVC Crew again, on the origins of
the Megaman custom, including images galore, *after the JUMP*
TOYSREVIL: why choose Megaman?
BAO: Actually we know that Megaman is a very popular character that a lot of artists are using for the show ... there's 2 reasons for the decision, the first one was because it's the kind of characters that fit very well with our style of custom-works ... and as you will see, it's almost like NVC invented the Megaman franchise, seeing how our custom style is so compatible with the characters from the game! *heheheheh*
The other reason was that this year is the 20th anniversary of the series, so the timing was just perfect and you know how we like to make everything fit together...
TRE: why use a Dunny?
BAO: We choose the Dunny toy as our main platform as I think it is perfect for any Megaman characters because the proportions and shapes fit perfectly with how these characters were designed ... what we had wanted to do was to make a custom that would be easily recognizable when people see him, without changing or deforming him too much. The only thing I wanted to change was his face - I didn't want to do his "I'm a happy guy" face...so I painted his face with my usual style of my customs characters :)
TRE: who's the dude in red? i don't really recognize him from the game but he looks awesome!
BAO: After making the Megaman, we wanted to make an enemy for him, but this time instead of redoing a character from the game, we decided to take inspiration from one character of the game to create a brand new one, so we created VINYLMAN!
BAO: VINYLMAN doesn't exist in the game, but he is loosely based on an exisiting character called METALMAN, but instead of throwing some "metal jigsaw disc", he's throwing vinyl-LPs! And because we're into vinyl toys and we like vinyl records, it became a tribute to both. And the best thing is that when you look at Vinylman, we can really believe that it can be real character in the game, becoz our style just fits so well for this project!
TRE: and of coz what's a NVC-custom without a diorama! so what was the plan?
BAO: So after making the 2 customs, we were like, "hey we can't only do just that" - because we were used a "complete project" ... and we had wanted to push this project further and try to bring it to another level, than just doing 2 easy customs ... so on the bus that brought us back from NYC for the NYCC, we had plenty of time to conceptualize our project! and we decided to reproduce a 3D platform, just like the game!
so Megaman arrives at this stage/level, where Vinylman is the boss and they'd have to fight ... we started with a wooden box and begun making anything related to vinyl, like the turntables serve as a platform for the characters can jump on, and in the middle of the stage, there's a big vinyl press machine, which Megamean has to try not be pressed down by the machine. And under the turntables there's a saw that is made of vinyls and spikes, so basically if Megaman falls between the platform he will be cut by the vinyls or perforated by the spikes - just like in the real game!
But we had wanted to paint something inside the box, because usually in the game, there's always a 2D background painted in the back of the stage. And because the shape of the box we'd decided to make a portable turntable ... on the sides of the box, there's paintings of the characters with their own colors and to round it off, there's a plexiglass that closes the box. i also repainted a real 45 RPM vinyl disc with loads of interesting details that you have to take a closer look!
And to finish all this.....well what is that box without real Nintendo controllers! So I decided to paint the 2 controllers just like "player 1" player 2" but this time, it's "Dr.Bao" and "Spive"!
TRE: from the video you mentioned "circuit bending", tell us all about that.
BAO: so we incorporated an electronic circuit in the controller and then bend it, which if you push the "B" button of the controller, the sounds would start, and then you can play with the sounds with the 2 buttons that we add on the left corner of the remote controller!!!! I think this really give the final touch to the project and it fits perfectly with the concept. So now, it looks like if you're playing a game!!! It's something special that no one has done it yet and because we like a lots of thing and are very aware of all the new trends, well we try to bring new stuff to the custom world and I think this is really something that we can explore more in the future... Circuit bending is very popular in the music industry, but now we want to bring it to the toy custom world!!!!
And we just add a kind of dock station on the back of the box to put the controllers in when it is not in use :)
TRE: the sounds sure brings back familiar memories! did NVC Crew do the mix yourselves?
BAO: we worked with music producer Johnny Ill Digger from the Boom Bap Cats, and he has created an unique and original track for our clip, with samples of sounds from Spive's old videogames! 15 game samples were used to create this mix track!
TOYSREVIL: cheers for the headsup and time, Dr.Bao! wish i could attend the show and see the custom for myself tho!
I AM 8-Bit is currently on @ Gallery 1988 from April 17th to May 12th 2007.
The NVC Crew were invited to contribute for the "i AM 8-Bit" show (a tribute art show based on 8-bit videogames), organized by Gallery 1988, and for the show, they decided to make a tribute to the MEGAMAN series, in their entry titled: Man Vs Machine. this is a video recording of Dr.Bao demonstrating "circuit bending" on their customed diorama:
i had a chance to talk to Dr.Bao of NVC Crew again, on the origins of
the Megaman custom, including images galore, *after the JUMP*
TOYSREVIL: why choose Megaman?
BAO: Actually we know that Megaman is a very popular character that a lot of artists are using for the show ... there's 2 reasons for the decision, the first one was because it's the kind of characters that fit very well with our style of custom-works ... and as you will see, it's almost like NVC invented the Megaman franchise, seeing how our custom style is so compatible with the characters from the game! *heheheheh*
The other reason was that this year is the 20th anniversary of the series, so the timing was just perfect and you know how we like to make everything fit together...
TRE: why use a Dunny?
BAO: We choose the Dunny toy as our main platform as I think it is perfect for any Megaman characters because the proportions and shapes fit perfectly with how these characters were designed ... what we had wanted to do was to make a custom that would be easily recognizable when people see him, without changing or deforming him too much. The only thing I wanted to change was his face - I didn't want to do his "I'm a happy guy" face...so I painted his face with my usual style of my customs characters :)
TRE: who's the dude in red? i don't really recognize him from the game but he looks awesome!
BAO: After making the Megaman, we wanted to make an enemy for him, but this time instead of redoing a character from the game, we decided to take inspiration from one character of the game to create a brand new one, so we created VINYLMAN!
BAO: VINYLMAN doesn't exist in the game, but he is loosely based on an exisiting character called METALMAN, but instead of throwing some "metal jigsaw disc", he's throwing vinyl-LPs! And because we're into vinyl toys and we like vinyl records, it became a tribute to both. And the best thing is that when you look at Vinylman, we can really believe that it can be real character in the game, becoz our style just fits so well for this project!
TRE: and of coz what's a NVC-custom without a diorama! so what was the plan?
BAO: So after making the 2 customs, we were like, "hey we can't only do just that" - because we were used a "complete project" ... and we had wanted to push this project further and try to bring it to another level, than just doing 2 easy customs ... so on the bus that brought us back from NYC for the NYCC, we had plenty of time to conceptualize our project! and we decided to reproduce a 3D platform, just like the game!
so Megaman arrives at this stage/level, where Vinylman is the boss and they'd have to fight ... we started with a wooden box and begun making anything related to vinyl, like the turntables serve as a platform for the characters can jump on, and in the middle of the stage, there's a big vinyl press machine, which Megamean has to try not be pressed down by the machine. And under the turntables there's a saw that is made of vinyls and spikes, so basically if Megaman falls between the platform he will be cut by the vinyls or perforated by the spikes - just like in the real game!
But we had wanted to paint something inside the box, because usually in the game, there's always a 2D background painted in the back of the stage. And because the shape of the box we'd decided to make a portable turntable ... on the sides of the box, there's paintings of the characters with their own colors and to round it off, there's a plexiglass that closes the box. i also repainted a real 45 RPM vinyl disc with loads of interesting details that you have to take a closer look!
And to finish all this.....well what is that box without real Nintendo controllers! So I decided to paint the 2 controllers just like "player 1" player 2" but this time, it's "Dr.Bao" and "Spive"!
TRE: from the video you mentioned "circuit bending", tell us all about that.
BAO: so we incorporated an electronic circuit in the controller and then bend it, which if you push the "B" button of the controller, the sounds would start, and then you can play with the sounds with the 2 buttons that we add on the left corner of the remote controller!!!! I think this really give the final touch to the project and it fits perfectly with the concept. So now, it looks like if you're playing a game!!! It's something special that no one has done it yet and because we like a lots of thing and are very aware of all the new trends, well we try to bring new stuff to the custom world and I think this is really something that we can explore more in the future... Circuit bending is very popular in the music industry, but now we want to bring it to the toy custom world!!!!
And we just add a kind of dock station on the back of the box to put the controllers in when it is not in use :)
TRE: the sounds sure brings back familiar memories! did NVC Crew do the mix yourselves?
BAO: we worked with music producer Johnny Ill Digger from the Boom Bap Cats, and he has created an unique and original track for our clip, with samples of sounds from Spive's old videogames! 15 game samples were used to create this mix track!
TOYSREVIL: cheers for the headsup and time, Dr.Bao! wish i could attend the show and see the custom for myself tho!
I AM 8-Bit is currently on @ Gallery 1988 from April 17th to May 12th 2007.
