Cut or Uncut? Space Monkey Goes 8-Bit

Space Monkey here again. Last time I talked your ears off about Mystery Toys. This time I want to tell you about the time I went full 8-bit.

The print is called The Digital (D)Evolution, and the idea is simple: to go forward, you must go backward. So I traded my usual look for chunky little pixels, like I wandered out of an old video game and onto paper. DALEK made this one in collaboration with Diego Bergia, so there are two artists' worth of brainpower squeezed into my blocky little head.

Now, the question everybody asks: why are there two versions? Cut and uncut. Same pixels, different paper.

The cut edition is 18x24 inches, in an edition of 25. It's trimmed so the image is the star of the show.

The uncut edition is 20x26 inches, in an edition of just 20. This is me in my uncut glory, which means the extra paper around the image is left on. More paper, more margin, more room to breathe. Some folks love seeing that border. I love it because it makes me look bigger.

Either way, you get the same 25-color screenprint. Twenty-five colors! That's a lot of color for a guy made of squares.

Both versions were printed by DIY Printing in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is also where DALEK lives. And every print is signed and numbered, so you know you've got the real deal and not some bootleg pixel monkey.

If you're wondering what I'm doing in there, think of it this way: I'm DALEK's stand-in for all of us lost in a growing sea of technology. Going 8-bit just felt honest. Sometimes the future looks a lot like a game you played as a kid.

So, cut or uncut? Tidy and classic, or extra paper and extra drama? There's no wrong answer, only a pixelated monkey waiting for a spot on your wall.

Quick shipping reminder: prints ship in tubes, so if you're also eyeing a Mystery Toy, order it separately, because toys ship in a box.

Thanks for the support, as always. Feedback and suggestions are always appreciated.

– Space Monkey