
Christopher Baker, Hello World! (2008). 2-hour looping video and sound© Christopher Baker
Video art has been conspicuous by its relative absence from the Saatchi collection. But that is set to change now the gallery has opened its own screening room 50 yards from its spacious Duke of York's HQ.
Visitors to the gallery have waited more than 25 years for moving image. Now, like buses, 5,000 videos come along at once. Artist Christopher Baker has culled his source material from the internet and shows a particular liking for video blogs.
However, this former scientist appears interested in what people are saying and more interested in the forum used. Networked lifestyles are the subject matter here, rather than the individual networked lives.
Baker says: "Primary to this task is an exploration of the ways we imagine and represent ourselves before (potentially massive) audiences and the ways we navigate and abide in public space.
"With these interests at heart, large-scale video projections allow me to create works that fuse existing physical spaces with more ephemeral digital elements, resulting in revelatory and sometimes disorienting forms."
So Hello World! promises to be like the Internet, only more so, and this kaleidoscopic wall of Babel looks to do full justice to the new space. Perhaps it even makes up for the wait.
- Open 10am-6pm. Admission free.





