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Appreciation towards Nick Gentry for providing the following description:
用3.5英寸2MB的存储格式软盘存放资料，这在现在听起来是那么的可笑，如今的存储器是这个数值的千倍万倍甚至更多，技术的生命周期如此短暂。伦敦艺术家尼克.金特里，是一个出生于3.5英寸软盘诞生并鼎盛时期的人。
虽然软盘已经过时，但它的存在是无法否认的经典。将软盘再次放到聚光灯下，更反映出当今世界技术变化的速度和程度。他们普遍，但是又独一无二，每一个软盘里面储存的文件，照片，游戏都是特别的，是当时世界信息断层的一片化石。
互联网引发的信息革命使得个人数据和身份在网上被共享，同时个性化和隐私变得比以往任何时候都要珍贵。这些软盘上的画作就是一个跨越时间和社会文化转变的艺术。人类将永远与我们的技术和谐共存吗？
在软盘上做肖像画，画是主体，软盘只是载体，用简单的方式给画像增加了机械艺术性。画家将磁盘放在木材基础上，他认真的选择磁盘，让每一个磁盘根据不同的色调和形式呆在不同的位置，然后在上面作画，画像覆盖在软盘上，有时也根据情况让软盘的标签显露。很多人为艺术家送来这一过去的技术产物—-软盘。这个艺术与社会紧密联系在一起，并和贡献软盘的人们建立起关系。画作下面软盘里的个人数据，将永远的被隐藏起来。
Artist Statement
Remember when life was measured in 2MB floppy disks? That all feels so ridiculous now, using something ten times bigger than a flash drive to transfer a thousand times less information. But there’s also something sad about the life-cycle of technology. For London artist Nick Gentry, who was born around the same time that the floppy disk became ubiquitous for personal use, the 3.5-inch pieces of plastic are symbolic of the harsh world of obsolescence.
Floppy disks are in that inevitable process of obsolescence and are already considered to be an artifact of the recent past. These objects are no longer relied upon, but by momentarily placing them in the spotlight, it becomes easier to comprehend the speed and extent of the technological changes that are taking place today.
Whilst being so prevalent, each disk also had the possibility to be completely unique, containing everything from games to important documents, pictures and more. The handwritten labels on each disk provides a clue as to what might lie beneath in a preserved and dormant state. These digital fossils represent the passing age of physical media.
As the Internet and information revolution releases everything from the physical form, it allows personal data and identities to be revealed and infinitely shared online. At the same time, individuality and privacy is widely considered to be more precious than ever. These paintings straddle a unique point in time where this social and cultural transition is taking place. Will humans be forever compatible with our own technology?
The subject of the paintings are often confused. This comes from the traditional way of looking a portrait, where the face of the person is considered to be the ‘subject’ or true identity and the canvas is simply used as the platform to show this. Gentry’s portraits are effectively a reversal of traditional portraiture, where the patchwork of memories beneath becomes the identity and the painting is simply a way to give that mechanical subject a human face.
The canvas is constructed by sticking the disks down onto a wood base. This is a very selective process as each disk needs to be placed in a specific area according to tone and form. A silhouette figure is then created by masking off the surrounding edges. The details of the features are then added, but only where necessary, which allows the labels to remain mostly visible.People from all over the world contribute to this social art project by sending obsolete technology to the artist. By embedding the disks in artworks and sending something back in return the contributor, artist and viewer come closer together. Something in that process makes all of that personal data exhibit-able, but at the same time forever hidden.
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