Flag (Thames) 2016

2016 - Film & Video (Film & Video)

John Gerrard


Flag (Thames) 2016 depicts a small section of the Thames River—one that is adjacent to the Palace of Westminster in London—as an algorithmic representation on an LED panel. The river color is vividly represented with reflections of buildings along the riverbank, including Big Ben. At the center of the scene sits a simulated gasoline spill. The depiction accurately refracts the light and creates a vivid prismatic patch, endlessly shifting in shape over time and appearing in direct relation to the precise time of day in London. The point-of-view of the camera in the work circles this changing shape, as Flag (Thames) unfolds over a 365-day solar cycle of night and day. The soft undulation of the waves animates the scene and gives rise to the title of the work. The power of Flag (Thames) lies in its simplicity. It embodies all of the strengths of his larger work, but its technical and conceptual complexity are manageable. (The oil spill alludes to the artist’s longstanding interest in addressing the perniciousness of the oil industry.) His work can be described as existing in post-cinematic, non-linear time, sequences produced and discarded in the time it takes the computer to execute the complex codes in which they are written. His work both transcends and immortalizes their subjects.


For more than two decades, John Gerrard has produced media work that has harnessed the emergent technologies of programming languages and gaming engines, and transmuted them into landscapes and portraits of ever increasing intricacy and autonomy. Gerrard works with a small team and creates complex algorithmic generators of simulated images. His projects exist as pieces of software. That piece of software needs a powerful machine, such as a gaming-type of machine. While some of his work are manifested as a projection, others exist as an object, or as an LED wall. The only place his art cannot exist is online, because his scenes are too dense and too complex to function in that space at present. Born 1974 in Ireland, John Gerrard received a degree in sculpture from the Ruskin School at the University of Oxford in 1997. He went on to pursue graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at Trinity College, Dublin. He has spent twenty years going beyond the artificial look of 3D animation, beyond what Hito Steyerl and Ed Atkins leave as recognizable. Instead, Gerrard’s work speaks to the present as well as to the histories of photography, and even to the histories of cinema.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

Dutch Emerging: Ruben Janssen X GRA Fashion Bachelor 2023
© » DIANE PERNET

Dutch Emerging: Ruben Janssen X GRA Fashion Bachelor 2023 – A Shaded View on Fashion From the back to the middle and around again — Ria’s wedding dress, Alan’s patterns and John’s model: ‘My project is an investigation into evolution, explored through prisms of biology, computation and a poetic personal narrative, shifting between timescales on an evolutionary timeline...

Untitled (Celestial Motors)
© » KADIST

Maria Taniguchi

2012

Untitled (Celestial Motors) is a visual meditation on an icon of modern urban Philippine life—the jeepney...

Art Collector and Credit Suisse Head José Olympio da Veiga Pereira Is the New President of São Paulo Biennial Foundation - via The Art Newspaper
© » LARRY'S LIST

The organisation oversees the city’s international exhibition, as well as the country’s representation at the Venice Biennale and other projects...

Happy Birthday to the “Worst Masterpiece”
© » ARTSJOURNAL

Happy Birthday to the “Worst Masterpiece” | Unanswered Question Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar February 12 marks the 100 th birthday of Rhapsody in Blue ...

Thaddaeus Ropac and Sprüth Magers achieve six-digit sales at Art Cologne 2023.
© » ARTSY

Thaddaeus Ropac and Sprüth Magers achieve six-digit sales at Art Cologne 2023...

Untitled (Miller House, #02)
© » KADIST

Luisa Lambri

2002

Lambri’s careful framing in Untitled (Miller House, #02) redefines our understanding of this iconic mid-century modernist building located in Palm Springs, California...

The Art World This Week: Art Basel Miami, Anselm Kiefer Sculpture Stolen, US Repatriations, and More
© » MUTUALART

Everything you need to know about the most important headlines from the world of art in the last seven days...

In pictures: focus on Caribbean artists
© » THEARTNEWSPER

In pictures: focus on Caribbean artists Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Art Basel in Miami Beach 2023 feature In pictures: focus on Caribbean artists María Elena Ortiz, curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, picks her favourite works at Art Basel in Miami Beach Alexander Morrison 9 December 2023 Share April Bey, COLONIAL SWAG: Not Conceited, CONVINCED! (2023) © Liliana Mora María Elena Ortiz is a trailblazing curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (the Modern), but she also has close ties to South Florida...

Karolina Halatek: The power of light
© » THE RE:ART

Karolina Halatek: The power of light - The re:art Karolina Halatek: The power of light In her immersive site-specific installations, Polish artist Karolina Halatek uses light as the main medium...

Nina Azoulay — Comme un rond dans un carré
© » SLASH PARIS

Nina Azoulay — Comme un rond dans un carré — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook Nina Azoulay — Comme un rond dans un carré — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour Précédent Suivant Nina Azoulay — Comme un rond dans un carré Exposition Installations, sculpture Derniers Jours Nina Azoulay, Olivia, 2024 © Nina Azoulay Nina Azoulay Comme un rond dans un carré Encore 7 jours : 11 janvier → 18 février 2024 La Project Room est le nouvel espace prospectif et expérimental du Frac qui prend place dans la dernière salle du Plateau...

It’s O.K. if a Deal Falls Through. There’s Always More Art. - via The New York Times
© » LARRY'S LIST

Gerald and Jody Lippes have homes in Canada, Florida and New York City, so walls are plentiful and each home has art with a different personality....

Jean Pigozzi Gifts 45 Works by African Artists to MoMA - via Art Critique
© » LARRY'S LIST

When the Museum of Modern Art closed for renovations on June 15th, it said that its reopening in October would boast a massive rehang of their permanent collect...

Nadie sabe de la sed con que otro bebe (No one knows the thirst with which another drinks)
© » KADIST

Nicolás Consuegra

2012

A residency program in the blazing hot city of Honda, Colombia, inspired artist Nicolás Consuegra to consider the difficulty in understanding the needs of a distant community...

Gabriel Sierra: ( )
© » KADIST

This publication marks the 2012 residency and public exhibition of ( ) by Gabriel Sierra, including text and translation by Christopher Michael Fraga and photography by Jeff Warrin....

Art Basel in Basel 2024 to host 287 leading galleries from 40 countries.
© » FAD MAGAZINE

Art Basel in Basel 2024: A Comprehensive Guide - FAD Magazine Skip to content By Mark Westall • 8 February 2024 Share — Art Basel in Basel 2024 to host 287 leading galleries and an expanded city-wide program...

Perrotin announces new Los Angeles space.
© » ARTSY

Perrotin announces new Los Angeles space...

Guggenheim Axes Ten Employees
© » ARTFORUM

Guggenheim Axes Ten Employees – Artforum Read Next: LOUVRE RAISES TICKET PRICES BY NEARLY 30 PERCENT Subscribe Search Icon Search Icon Search for: Search Icon Search for: Follow Us facebook twitter instagram youtube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter...

Nothing New
© » KADIST

Oded Hirsch

2012

Oded Hirsch’s video work Nothing New (2012) utilizes seemingly absurdist tropes to raise more trenchant questions about communal action and collective identity in modern day Israel...

Sodiq, Tobi, Nonso and Tonnex
© » KADIST

Sabelo Mlangeni

2019

The Royal House of Allure is a name of a safe house on mainland Lagos where members of the queer community in need of boarding, due to various circumstances, live together...

Barbara Bloom
© » KADIST

Barbara Bloom in conversation with Jo-ey Tang about “The Bedbroom” (1997)...