Old School Video Games Inspire Layered Glass Artworks

Piranha Posy by Static, Spray Paint on 3 Layers of Glass and Aluminium in Custom Painted Frame. 63cm x 83cm. Lawrence Alkin Gallery

Retro computer graphics are the basis for the handmade layered glass images of London-based artists STATIC (Tom Jackson and Craig Evans). The images are for their show Press Play, at London's Lawrence Alkin Gallery, for which the pair utilize iconic characters and design elements from hugely influential and idealised 8-bit video games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros., Asteroids, and Tetris.

The pictures in the exhibition are created from hand-cut stencils and spray paint over layered glass and aluminium, which gives them a 3D look. As well as taking recognizable elements and styles from the early video games—and the bright, alluring artworks and designs gracing the arcade machines they were played on—the pieces combine these with STATIC's own street art influenced design details to create a kind of Pop art celebration of these already bold and colorful visuals.

Game On!- Super 2 Player Mode by Static. Spray Paint on 3 Layers of Glass and Aluminium in Custom Painted Frame. 93cm x 123cm. Lawrence Alkin Gallery

"Our work often features symbols or repeated patterns, such as the 'heart' and 'star' which are probably the two most recurring motifs in our work and which are almost used as building blocks, to construct our ideas," STATIC told The Creators Project over email. "Rather than convert everything to 8-bit/pixelated graphics, we decided to mix our existing vectorized style in with the original elements to create new interpretations which play across the floating world within the custom framed artworks."

The works were inspired by a previous STATIC piece, a retro video game mural for Wood Street Studios in east London. The project reawakened their love for these old games so they decided to try out creating video game-influenced images using their layered glass technique.

"We've been producing layered glass artworks for five years now and this collection brings together everything we've learned in a really effective way. We wanted to capture the aesthetic of those early arcade games and the machines that they were played on and this approach allowed us to explore the relationship between the digital and the physical to create a series of artworks that not only represent the titles they are based on, but also combine other influences and layers of reference."

Pre- Programmed Part 1 by Static. Spray Paint on 3 Layers of Glass with Lego Bricks on Aluminium Background in Custom Painted Frame. 93cm x 93cm. Lawrence Alkin Gallery

Pre- Programmed Part 2 by Static. Spray Paint on 3 Layers of Glass with Lego Bricks on Aluminium Background in Custom Painted Frame. 93cm x 93cm. Lawrence Alkin Gallery

Sun Flowers by Static. Spray Paint on 3 Layers of Glass and Aluminium in Custom Painted Frame. 63cm x 83cm. Lawrence Alkin Gallery

Press Play is on now until 13 February at Lawrence Alkin Gallery, Soho, London.

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