Caspar David 8bit
(2024)
Caspar David 8bit is a series of artworks inspired by the iconic painting "Two Men Contemplating the Moon" by Caspar David Friedrich. The project began by photographing a postcard of Friedrich's painting using a Gameboy Camera, followed by digital post-processing. A simple animation was then created around the photograph, featuring a quote from Friedrich. This work aims to capture and simplify the essence of Friedrich's art, highlighting themes of nature connection and longing.
Created in the anniversary year of Caspar David Friedrich, the series seeks to shift focus from the cult of Friedrich's personality to the core of his artistic essence. The Casper David 8bit series includes multiple iterations of the work, which have been exhibited at the Till Richter Museum and in public spaces as part of the Casper Reloaded initiative.
Caspar Reloaded: Public Exhibition
The exhibition series "Caspar Reloaded," held in March 2024, provided artists the opportunity to showcase works inspired by Caspar David Friedrich. This initiative served as the catalyst for the creation of the Casper David 8bit project. Through a competition, artists from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were invited to submit their works. The winners of this competition were given the chance to display their pieces on advertising spaces in the Greifswald area for one month.
As part of this exhibition, Casper David 8bit was presented on various video screens in public spaces throughout Greifswald. The 10-second artwork was interspersed with other advertisement clips, recurring on three different video screens. This innovative display method allowed the essence of Friedrich's art to be experienced in a modern, digital context, reaching a broad audience in an everyday urban environment.
CD8bit Gameboy Installation
Disturbed by how far the original Casper David 8bit works had strayed from the original Gameboy medium, it was only logical to return to the initial hardware. To achieve this, the original animation was transformed into an interactive monologue playable on a Gameboy cartridge, effectively creating a Gameboy game. The quote remained the same as in the previous works, but now viewers could navigate the monologue independently, reflecting on Friedrich's words and exploring the essence of his works in a playful manner.
Using the same technique of photographing Friedrich’s motives with a Gameboy Camera, additional iconic images, such as "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog," were integrated into the game. The work is displayed on a custom-modeled pure white Gameboy with backlighting, housed in a pedestal. The cartridge containing the game is framed and placed next to the pedestal.
This piece was showcased during the annual exhibition of the Caspar David Friedrich Institute, the Insomnale. It was also featured at the opening of the CDF Werkverkauf, a new student gallery in Greifswald.
CD8bit.gb
The ROM file of the Gameboy work is now available for download, allowing visitors to play it on Gameboy emulators from the comfort of their homes. This decision was made to make the interactive experience more accessible and to enable a wider audience to engage with the essence of Caspar David Friedrich's works in a modern, digital format.
You can play the downloaded ROM file on a web-based Gameboy emulator through the following link: