Credit: Rendering of Nicolas Sassoon’s Serpentine River animation, part of the Liquid Landscapes series at the new UrbanScreen site.
Nicolas Sassoon: Liquid Landscapes
UrbanScreen returns with Nicolas Sassoon's hypnotic pixel animations.
Date & time
Address
Tickets & pricing
Free
Winter & spring hours to April 30, 2025
Monday to Thursday: 9pm to midnight
Friday to Sunday: 5pm to midnight
Colourful pixel animations with sound capture the movement of water, light, wind, and air from seven key geographic sites around Surrey: Serpentine River, Redwood Park, Crescent Beach, Nicomekl River, Boundary Bay, Serpentine Fen, and the Fraser River. Nicolas Sassoon renders the scenes in limited but vibrant colours informed by each location as well as by the retro, pixelated look of early web design.
Over the course of each animation, the images become progressively more abstract, until it is no longer obvious what the subject of the animation originally was. In this way, Sassoon alludes to how screen-based technologies distance us from reality.
Each of the seven animations will be displayed on a different night of the week, and is accompanied by audio responses created by local music producers and sound artists, including:
- Yu Su (You’re Me)
- J.S. Aurelius (Ascetic House)
- Jean Brazeau
- Scott Woodworth
- Baby Blue (s.M.i.L.e)
- Venetta (NuZi Collective)
- x/o
This artwork was previously shown in 2018 and the work has since been acquired as a part of the Gallery’s permanent collection. Curated by Assistant Curator Rhys Edwards, Liquid Landscapes celebrates the geographic diversity throughout Surrey and challenges us to think about our complicated relationship with nature and technology.
Liquid Landscapes is accompanied by an essay by Assistant Curator Rhys Edwards, as part of our Surrey Art Gallery Presents series.