US Invader and Pac Sweden

Swedish artist Vuk Cosik was a member of the groundbreaking net.art group who were amongst the first to explore computer (and especially) video game aesthetics. The best net.art work combines the conceptual complexity of 'serious' gallery art with a high level of fluency with computer and internet technology and culture.

Cosik's current series of national flags rendered as 8-bit video games is no exception. They somehow manage to point out the iconic quality of these video game images, deflate the self-importance of patriotic symbols, and comment on different attributes of national identity such as military superiority all simultaneously.

For more examples, checkout we-make-money-not-art's flickr 'vuk' tag.