Drive Thru is a VR (Virtual Reality) exhibition designed by Aaron Tonks (Blackpool and the Fylde College). Aaron Tonks had started to create VR galleries in response to COVID lockdowns, and then later as a way for artists to have online exhibitions. Aaron approached me after seeing details about my exhibition Alien Resident at CASC (Contemporary Art Space Chester). 

Together, we decided to focus the exhibition on automobiles, one of the typologies from my San Diego archive. Photographs of cars were accompanied by images of large roadside signs commonly used in the USA to attract the attention of the motorist. The title of the exhibition project was taken from one sign that simply stated ‘Drive Thru’. 

Once we had established the content, Aaron designed the interior and exterior of the gallery space. The architecture of the building was based on modernist Californian buildings of concrete and wood with large windows. The interior had neutral tones and my photographs appeared as large wall-sized prints. Aaron included four garage-like spaces to house each of the car photographs. The building that Aaron designed for Drive Thru sits in a desert landscape; it does not exist except in digital space. 

Drive Thru
2022 Virtual Gallery designed by Aaron Tonks (Blackpool and the Fylde College).