May 17 - June 27, 2003                                      

River City Breaks is an exhibition rising out of the powerful phenomenon of video gaming. This exhibition, the first in a series of works, points a spotlight on River City Ransom, a Nintendo game from the golden era of 8-bit gaming. Using simple tools to manipulate found images pixel by pixel, Marshall Astor attempts to inject himself and his own narrative onto the fertile ground of an already existing one. It is in this unruly combination that he attempts to ask questions regarding the relationship that we have with our imaginary, electronic worlds, the validity and relevance of our experiences there to us as we age and grow into adults, and what the elements used to compose these worlds and their stories says about us as a people.

Works in the exhibition included a series of digital prints on canvas, an installation "NESVISION", which allowed multiple viewers to interact with the source material for the exhibition in a controlled environment and an album featuring the songs and sounds of River City Ransom.