It’s said that nothing feels as dated as the recent past. It must be a familiar sensation to anyone who has piles of floppy disks, cassettes, VHS tapes and Polaroids stuffed under their bed or languishing in the cupboard gathering dust.
However, whereas most of us forget about these one-time hot technological gadgets in favour of the latest android phone/iPad/etc etc, Nick Gentry is recycling these formats in the name of art.
Having grown up with these artefacts in the Eighties and Nineties, Gentry, a graduate of Central St Martins, decided that while they might no longer serve a technological purpose, they still work culturally.
Floppy disks are used as a canvas for his portraits and he then paints stark, often eerie, photofits on top, a comment, surely, on the use of personal information and technological data.
Of course, the whole conceit works because the portraits are so arresting, but when the artwork makes you think at the same time, well, that can be no bad thing.
Floppy Disk Art
An Amalgamation by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Back Up 26 by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Cross Referenced by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Lander by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Next Generation by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Pen Pal by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Out Of My Bios by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Profile Number 2 by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Self Portrait 01 by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
Floppy Disk Art
Silent Syndicate by Nick Gentry
2010 / Mixed paint and used computer disks on wood
