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Artist ‘Vandalizes’ The Streets With His Fun And Unique Pixel Art (30 Pics)
Interview With Artist
It's sad to see that youthfulness and playfulness often disappear when you grow up. Everything becomes kind of bland. We stop enjoying the little things in life. But what if those simple things were a little bit more playful and fun themselves? Let's take the streets, for example. We walk through them almost every day and they're usually pretty meh. But what if they had hidden Easter eggs that would make your day a little brighter?
That's what Johan Karlgen has in mind when he creates his street art. The Swedish artist creates pixelated art pieces that make bland locations much more interesting. They almost always interact with their environment and even though they are not realistic, they blend in very well. His themes usually range from video games to movies to other pop-culture references. Johan went viral on Reddit recently because of his transformed concrete barriers in a parking lot. He made them into a Toblerone chocolate bar.
Johan has been featured on Bored Panda before, click here and here to see the previous articles.
More info: Instagram | pappasparlor.bigcartel.com
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#1
Danish Dynomummy 4 years ago
This is hilarious and Well done! But where is the Bear in the mountains?
We got an interview from Johan Karlgen and asked him what the main goal of his street art is and how he got into art: "To make myself and other people happy. It's been a lifetime love story. I studied arts in high school just to be able to go to another city to live and skateboard. But in the end, creating stuff with my hands and mind ended up being my calling."
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#2
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
I have never stopped missing Calvin & Hobbes...Bill Watterson, your lunch break is over—it’s time to come back and catch us up on our favorite boy-and-tiger couple!
We asked the artist what the most difficult part of creating his art pieces is: "The craft in creating Perler creations is the ironing part. That’s what you can get really good at."
Johan shared what topics he likes to create about: "Anything that makes me feel something. It could be anything from childhood memories to politics or people doing awesome stuff that I wanna interpret." The artist also mentioned that the style of his street art is quite playful and fun: "I don’t really choose what to create. My work is sprung from playing, and I’ll try to go with the ideas that come up in my head."
"I started doing this in 2015 or something. I got tired of shooting my stuff in my studio and moved outside. I’ll continue till I run out of ideas."
Johan tells us what keeps him inspired to create: "The fun of it. Since it’s a hobby that got out of hand, I promised myself to only chase the fun of it. Luckily I’ve got people supporting me cause my kids can’t eat likes."
"I’ve never had a bad experience in the streets. I call my street art 'civil disobedience with a conscience' meaning, for example, that I don’t paint on people's private property but focus on weird, broken (often ugly) things in the streets. And that’s probably why no one minds."
#10
Kookamunga 4 years ago
"All I have in this world is my balls and my word, and I don't break 'em for no one!"
"Make things that make you happy," said Johan when asked what advice he would give to artists that are just starting out.
The artist gives us some facts about himself and his life: "I’m a father of four who loves gaming and skateboards every now and then. My wife has come to terms that I’ll never fully grow up."
#20
𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔩𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔢𝔑 4 years ago (edited)
Beatles' album is to "Abby Road," as TMNT is to Splinter Road.
#22
#30
#31
#32
𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔩𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔢𝔑 4 years ago
One side plays cool air; the other plays cool music! It's a "win-win!"
#36
#40
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
🎼🎶George, George, George of the Jungle... Watch Out For That TREE-EE🎵🎶
#44
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago (edited)
🎼🎶Who LiveD in a Pineapple Under the Sea 🎵🎶 (but now seems to be "stuffed & mounted".)
#51
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Very creative, making a dove of peace from a piece of missing wall👏😻👍
#54
#64
Ploploplop 4 years ago
Jesus Quintana, don't tell him it was over the line or Liam and him gonna f@ck you up.
#66
𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔩𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔢𝔑 4 years ago
Great! NOW I've got that darn "Mario Bros." theme song stuck in my head, and I cannot get it out! "♬Dun-nun-un'nun-nun-nu'ah!♬Whoo-ooh-oop!"♬
#67
#69
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Morbidly funny...can you believe that new research suggests that this kind of humor is a sign of high intelligence 🤔
#73
Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
"My name is Barney and I'm an alcoholic." "Mr Gumble, this is a girls scouts meeting!" "Is it? Or is it that you girls can't admit you have a problem?" *BURP*
#76
#94
𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔩𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔢𝔑 4 years ago
"Take that, wall! Maybe next time, you'll think twice before letting me run into you!"
#95
#96
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
I know that's supposed to be Marilyn Monroe but something's a bit wonky with the head 🤔
#100
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What do you think ?
𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔩𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔢𝔑 4 years ago
FTR- Let's be clear, this is NOT in ANY way, shape, and/ or form considered "vandalism." This IS, however, EXTREMELY AWESOME "Urban Street Art!"
Karin 4 years ago
It is not clear from the intro whether these are photoshopped pics or actual objects placed in the real world???
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
🧙I believe that it's a mix of both & magical🧙♂️
Load More Replies... 𝔓𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔩𝔢 ℜ𝔞𝔢𝔑 4 years ago
FTR- Let's be clear, this is NOT in ANY way, shape, and/ or form considered "vandalism." This IS, however, EXTREMELY AWESOME "Urban Street Art!"
Karin 4 years ago
It is not clear from the intro whether these are photoshopped pics or actual objects placed in the real world???
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
🧙I believe that it's a mix of both & magical🧙♂️
Load More Replies... You May Like 72 Creative Graffiti Art That Turned Blank Walls Into Objects Of Admiration 40 Famous Paintings That Changed Art Forever And Cost A Fortune Doing It It Would Be A Crime To Cover Up These 80 Creative Graffiti Works
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