I promise this isn’t a sponsored article, I’m just really into dissected video game consoles and I want everyone to see them. I stumbled upon this company called that creates framed displays for all kinds of retro technology, from Nintendo consoles and controllers, to iPods and cell phones, and even old Apple computer processors, if that’s the kind of thing you’re into. They’re all hand made, gift wrapped, and surprisingly affordable - at least compared to the price of an intact, functional version of the same device. Indulge me briefly while I t𝄹alk about my fascination with electronics separated in💯to all their individual parts.
It’s an incredibly simple concept. All Grid Studio is doing is taking Game Boys and DualShock controllers, arranging all of the components in an aesthetic way, and labeling each part. I could probably do something like this myself with an old GameCube controller I keep in my living room🎀 in case a spontaneous Smash Bros. Melee tournament ever breaks out, but I’m still tempted to pay Grid Studio $150 to do it for me.
There’s an art to the way each component is arranged in the frame. As your eye travels naturally from one familiar piece to the next, you start subconsciously reassembling the device in your mind until it's whole again. There's a pleasing symmetry to the way each one is laid out, and you can tell the designers thought very carefully about the best way to explode each one.
It's also a cool way to learn about these devices. As a lifelong gamer, things like Wiimotes and PSPs are as ubiquitous to me as hair dryers and coffee makers, and it's cool to see how surprisingly basic a lot of consoles and controllers actually are. The Nintendo DS is a far more sophisticated device than the original Game Boy, but when you look at them side by side they're both made of the same, simple stuff. A plastic shell, some buttons, a speaker, and a green circuit board is all it takes to make a Nintendo console. It's something that's so sentimental and meaningful to me, even though it's really just a little bit of metal and plastic.
It's hard to describe what I find so evocative about these art pieces. My father was an aerospace engineer that worked on experimental aircrafts, and my mother was a high school art teacher. Growing up I found it difficult to reconcile those two halves of my identity, and to understand myself as the product of an artist and an engineer. As silly as it sounds, these exploded Game Boys make me feel seen. They're both physical and metaphysical. Theme and form. Art and science. I want to look at the work and appreciate it just as much as I want to smash the glass and put it all back together.
Whether we think about it or not, we all have a deep connection with the consoles and controllers we grew up with. At the end of the day it shouldn't be about the hardware. Devices are just the necessary tools that we use to access the stories, characters, and worlds of games. That's where the real meaning lies, but I'd be lying if I said a perfectly framed, deconstructed GBA didn't stir something in me - and I’m definitely not the only one.