pixel artist freezes khaleesi, morty, heisenberg, et al. in an 8-bit universe

gustavo viselner is a pixel artist. his work, for several reasons, is more than viral clickbait. they’re familiar stories with fresh perspectives — like 8-bit covers of your favorite songs.

breaking bad

khaleesi’s dragon swoops quickly overhead. slave traders tremble in fear. fires burn. but all the movement feels frozen. it feels like pointillism. the viewer expects the pixelated dragon queen to rock back and forth on a loop of simple code, but she doesn’t. or perhaps, the viewer imagines the scene from season 3 perfectly, hears the dragons roar, and expects viselner’s piece to feel just as loud. it doesn’t. the art is still. the pixels are quiet, and the viewer’s mind is loud with movement, until, humorously, their imagination runs dry and they stop thinking, and just stare at what appears to be a secret, ‘game of thrones’ video game from the 80s that no one knew about.

game of thrones

‘for me, pixel art is no longer just a graphic tool for games, but a form of art that can stand out without having a video game to support it,’ viselner says. ‘translating these fantasies into illustrated scenes is all I can do, and it’s delightful.’

stranger things

it’s viselner’s delightful time machine. with his art, we don’t just get cheap references, we get our favorite moments, from the most recognizable stories — fresh prince, heisenberg, eleven, rick sanchez, seinfeld, the friends cast — covered by the visual-art-equivalent of a funky, 8-bit cover band. in viselner’s hands, all of these complex stories are simplified into a single image, a handful of different colored units. they’re nostalgic in the funniest way possible. see way, way, way, way more on gustavo’s instagram, @pixelgustavo

rick and morty

fresh prince of bel air

the handmaid’s tale

friends

game of thrones

stranger things

seinfeld

star trek

better call saul

walking dead

narcos

westworld

the wonder years