Ryan Heath
Solid State Drive, 2023 is an existential arcade machine: a non-game, a relic of retail and a new interactive work of fiction.
It explores the birth, life and death of a retro racer - a gaming experience commonly found in bygone brick-and-mortar arcades. While these spaces have shrunk in the face of an increasingly digitised world, our racing simulator has had time to contemplate. Instead of competing, our vehicle takes us on a journey off-course to the back end of its software. Roaming through these cavernous networks, our program delivers a monologue questioning the relevance of both itself and the experience it is supposed to provide.
Music from Bradley Cook, Heather Perkins, and Jack Wright.
Voiceover by Oona Evergreen and Rob Mann.
Special thanks to Ruth Terry, Peter Terry and Lee Nicholls.
Made with Unity & Adventure Creator.
Ritual Practice, 2021
Artcore Gallery, Derby City
Single Channel Video / 08:39
This short looks at the privatization of public space and the ever-changing tactics involved in redevelopment. It sees a millennial mystic converge with a junior designer to perform a Zoom seance - with the hope of 'cleansing' the space around the gallery - Osnabruck Square - of its unwanted energy.
Made In Residence at Artcore Gallery, Derby in early 2021.
Creature Design by Artcore's Youth Group
Editing by Matthew Goward
Performance by Sam Hulmes and Ryan Heath
Set Design by Oona Evergreen
The Thinning, 2019
Broadway Gallery, Nottingham
Virtual Reality Short / 06:00
This ongoing work takes inspiration from the apotropaic graffiti or ‘witch marks’ of Creswell Craggs, an enclosed limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The cliffs in the ravine contain several caves housing ritual protection marks dating back hundreds of years. The artist re-imagines such a phenomena in post-industrial Britain. Visuals are drawn from the artist’s interest in contemporary symbology, found in the urban environment. Through the use of these symbols, Heath considers how the unknown plays a role in the construction of narrative and examines how we seek meaning in an increasingly complex world. Heath borrows from the historical, semiotic and occult to illustrate these very human traits.
The work was shown on Friday 07 - 14 December at Broadway Gallery, Nottingham in 2019. This installation was produced with the generous support of Broadway’s Near Now and The University of Nottingham. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Score by AJA Ireland
Opening Night Performance by Dean Morris