There are things I used to do in my childhood that I no longer spend time doing, like trying to learn new yo-yo tricks or playing with Perler beads. Not because I don’t want to, but rather because life and responsibilities came between and, if I have to be completely honest, because I’m too lazy to fix the broken string to my yo-yo. But even though I’m not doing all the things I once used to, some things from my childhood are still with me today and have made me who I am. Playing video games is one of those things.
Another fan of video games is the street art creator Pappas Pärlor, who also goes by his civilian name Johan Karlgren. He often expresses his love for retro games and classic Nintendo titles in an art form which isn’t that common: plastic beads! While many of us probably have stopped playing with beads for several years now, Pappas Pärlor doesn’t seem to want to stop crafting with them anytime soon. Not only is he talented, but his work is also often comedic and brings joy to gray streets and dull corners with those colorful beads, and his creations are always carefully placed to blend into the rest of the background.
One of my favorite creations by Pappas Pärlor is a flat, pixelated Link from The Wind Waker, floating in the air with the help of a Deku Leaf. Sadly, I can only show you a screenshot of the creation, but I highly recommend that you click right here to check out Pappas Pärlor’s video clip where our green-clad Hero is “flying” to the title theme of The Wind Waker.
Although the idea itself might be simple, I’m sure it would be enough for a younger me to want to play with this beaded Link. And the present-time me is hit with a feeling of nostalgia; this is just like when Link used the Deku Leaf to leave Forest Haven behind and enter the unknown Forbidden Woods! But at the same time, it isn’t exactly like in the video game.
With the mix of a cartoonish character being placed in the real world, it looks real and surreal at the same time. I’m partly lost in my old memories of The Wind Waker and partly present in, well, not my surroundings, as I’m not the one who’s holding the beadwork, but it certainly feels as if I’m there. And that’s what makes this creation so cool and interesting to me and makes me return to watch the video again and again. That, and that the clip features Link, obviously. I might be a bit biased when it comes to picking a favorite video game hero; that trait is definitely one thing I have taken with me from my childhood.
