Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Paul Robertson is a quiet individual who’s imagery is as powerful and iconic as any digital artist. He’s from Australia, yet might be best known for his work on the Scott Pilgrim video game. With one look at his art and then the game, it’s obvious. Robertson’s art style echoes that of games of yesteryear, yet the subject matter has both retro elements and iconography yet is filled with cyber energy and excitement. His current work at Giant Robot 2 is a series of prints in Diversions.
GR: Your work has a 8 bit feel. Is that too trite of a thing to say about your work? Or is it 16bit?
PR: I don’t think it’s fair to call it 8 bit or 16 bit, it seems like those terms are thrown around alot without knowing what they actually mean. I’d say I just work in pixels and usually low colour pallettes.
GR: Can you explain the process by which you create art?
PR: When I have an idea for something I’ll sketch it down on paper, or a rough pixel sketch first. Then I’ll just gradually pixel over it, edit things here and there, and push things around until it doesn’t look terrible. I don’t think I’m a natually good drawer so I always do a lot of editing and adjusting. Pixel art is pretty accomadating for this kindof method.
GR: Is there a scene of artists or audience for your work in Australia?
PR: I have no idea. I’m not really into any artist “scenes” in australia. I think my work is mostly known online.
Rinko Kikuchi might be best known for her role as the mute school girl in Babel directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Nominated for an Oscar, she’s gone on to numerous projects including Brothers Bloom and is in 47 Ronin with Keanu Reeves and yet another project currently filming with Guillermo Del Toro. Her role in Tran Anh Hung directed adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is far from a tender character as she’s cast as Naoko, a person who’s mentally ill, plagued by her own demons. Kikuchi currently lives in New York City and we caught up with her during her Norwegian Wood promotions. Her English is coming along as well as her acting roles.
GR: Can you tell me about your experience of reading Norwegian Wood?
RK: When I read the book, I was the same age as Naoko, so I fell in love with Naoko’s character and ten years later, I got this role. Now I understand her better than when I first read the book.
GR: When I read some books when I was younger and then I re-read it again at a different time it felt a lot different. How did you see that? Did it change a little bit when you read it one more time before the movie?
RK: Yea, when I made this film, I learned everything has an end. Naoko and Kizuki wanted to keep their beautiful memory so they committed suicide. They were scared to open the other door, you know? That’s why I think this book is really beautiful, poetic and fragile. So I got a new experience of the book after making the film.
GR: I know that the character is kind of a difficult one and I was reading how you had to get into that character. How do you do that?
RK: I read the book over and over again, and I asked Naoko questions and tried to get the right answers from her. Right at the beginning of the shoot, the answers and questions melded, so finally I could do that the role, but every specific hint from the novel mattered.