Floppy Disks as Art Medium

“Unidentified” and “A Collection of Memories” by Nick Gentry

Nick Gentry uses old floppy disks, VHS tapes, and other antiquated media storage devices as his chosen medium for painting.  The subjects tend to be facial in nature, most likely due to the omnipresence of circular mechanisms inherent in such things. From his About section:

Throughout history, information has always been recorded on physical objects. Important documents, favourite songs, videos and more were stored on mountains of tapes, polaroids, cassettes and disks. As media is rapidly absorbed into the World Wide Web the rich variety of formats of the past are becoming obsolete.

This represents a big shift away from physical, real world objects, driving towards a human existence that is ultimately governed by billions of invisible data files.

Each floppy disk used in the paintings has a history and story of its own. It represents the increasing pace of the modern life cycle, where objects are created, used and disposed of quicker than ever. To challenge this notion, as these personal artefacts of life are cast aside, the obsolete are now given new life and a renewed purpose by using them as a medium for art.

Link for more of his outstanding work.  (via Twisted Sifter)