Bad Reception by Christopher Bentley – Art Show Launch

Join us for the launch of Christopher Bentley’s BAD RECEPTION, an art show of video games, early CGI and signals from obsolete machines. The show will be on display in the Netherworld from June 4th through to July 8th.

BAD RECEPTION brings together artworks made with video game systems, obsolete cameras, early computer graphics software and 3D-printed sculptures.

The exhibition looks back at the visual culture of the 1990s, using authentic tools from the era to celebrate crunchy resolutions, awkward 3D renderings, strange digital forms and crushed colour palettes.

Many of the works were made using systems that were never meant to be preserved, but now offer a distinct aesthetic of their time. Art Alive! on the Sega Mega Drive becomes a digital painting studio with no way to save. The Game Boy Camera turns photography into something low-resolution, playful and printable through a tiny thermal printer. Adobe Dimensions gave users at home the ability to make their own 3D graphics in the 1990s.

These tools also raise questions about what happens to digital work over time. File formats change, hardware fails, services disappear and creative systems can become difficult, or impossible, to access. In this sense, the works are not just nostalgic images. They are records of older technologies and the limits that shaped them.

Rather than smoothing away the limitations of these systems, BAD RECEPTION leans into them. Their imperfections are not mistakes, but evidence of the tools themselves.

christopherbentleyart.com
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