Progress Quest

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For the 30th online exhibition, titled ‘Progress Quest’, three artists were selected. The name derives from a video game of the same name, where the players job is solely focused on inputting and accumulating arbitrary statistic points, which are displayed on an excel-like spreadsheet. This idea of time accumulation and degradation is considered in each of the three works for this exhibition, be it in a very literal way in terms of how long the work actually took to make, or in a more philosophical way in relation to progression and pursuing a never ending goal. Within the show, all three of the works are layered on top of each other, slowly moving through the waves of different art movements and idioms. One is first encountered by Karl Russell Vickers' collage print 'See That Loophole Over There?' which contains a variety of appropriated imagery, evoking a feeling of strangeness within the seemingly loosely put together creation. Tim Hodkinson's video piece 'Present' is positioned behind the print, featuring outwardly organic forms and a melodic soundtrack. The moments of hyper-saturation that occur throughout the film forces the viewer to consider these environmental tableaus in minute detail, continually asking the unanswerable question of how long one should interact with a work of art. The exhibition is finalized with Dom Chastney's painting 'Cell' that focuses on ideas of mark making and repetitive movements, whilst utilizing found objects in order to create 'clean' areas of the canvas.

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​Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight