When I was much younger, I used to save all of my computer files and documents on floppy disks. It's amazing how fast technology has improved since then. These days, I sometimes come across a few old disk but, other than letting them form dusty piles on my shelf, there isn't anything I can really do with them. Or so I thought. London-based artist Nick Gentry has developed a very interesting way of repurposing these old materials into fine works of art. He compiles rows and rows of solid colored floppy disks and uses them as the base for these beautiful mixed paint portraits.
The artists says his art is “influenced by the development of consumerism, technology, identity, and cyberculture in society, with a distinctive focus on obsolete media.” Remnants of old handwriting on different colored adhesive labels, magnetic circles, and colorful plastic covers add to the vintage quality of each one of Gentry's paintings. The artist extends the paints beyond the boundaries of the floppy disk grid so that arms, hands, shoulders, and hair flow beyond the square frame and add depth to the individual portraits. Gentry certainly has figured out incredibly original ways to reuse these outdated, recycled objects!
You can also check out more of his work here.
