'SPIRITS' by John Gerrard Gives Plastic a Second Life Through Browser-Based Artwork

Bio: John Gerrard aka Jesy, 51, Ireland, Spain, Austria + the US

Title of work: SPIRITS

Where to see it: 

“John Gerrard: Spirits”
LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
Through December 21, 2026

Three words to describe this work: Public, art, and browser.

What was on your mind at the time: SPIRITS begins on the island of Karpahos in Greece—specifically on Evgónimos beach which catches a lot of ocean refuge. My head down in shame at the earth my generation passes to the next and surrounded by a field of imperishable plastic, mixed with wood. In time the project became a four ocean four part piece for Los Angeles Museum of Art, realized in the browser, and launched on Summer Solstice with a 4,000 person SPIRITS DANCE with Richie Hawtin under the new Geffen designed by Peter Zumthor, where the live sims were performed followed by a dance.

An interesting feature that’s not immediately noticeable: Many people think the works are 2D JPEGs but they are rather Infinite auditory and spatial worlds, realized in the browser.

How the work reflects your practice as a whole: An amplification from landscape into network, the most contested, neglected and yet most valuable art space of our age. Alongside an interest in power, in the fractal senses of that word but in particular where it intersects with energy.

One song that captures the work’s essence: The work actually is a song called PEAK OIL. Lean in here and push through.