As seen at the exhibition John Gerrard
Thomas Dane Gallery, London, UK
02 February - 25 March 2010

Sow Farm (near Libbey, Oklahoma) 2009 depicts an existing agricultural complex on the American Great Plains. Each of the corrugated iron sheds houses a large but unseen community of sows engaged in mass farrowing. Set low against the plains, the structures have the cold, institutional feel of a military or correctional facility. In a symbolic moment of exchange within the work, reflecting the growth cycle of the pigs enclosed there, a single transport truck pulls to each building every 156 days and waits for one hour. Behind the sheds lie large effluent lakes.

The artist uses photographic documentation gathered during site visits to create virtual portraits in which an orbital camera presents a 360-degree view of the landscape set within an unfolding 24 hour day, and 365 day year. The work was subsequently constructed over a period of a year using 3D modelling and Realtime 3D, a format more commonly associated with the gaming industry.

image 3: seen with Lufkin (near Hugo, Colorado), 2009

Production: Werner Poetzelberger.
Modelling: Daniel Fellsner.
Programming: Helmut Bressler.
Presentation design / Corian fabrication: Jakob Illera / Inseq, Vienna.

25. April – 28. Mai 2012
http://www.diejungeakademie.de

29 May - 22 July
install details
solo

Es ist eine neu Arbeit, die aus einem speziellen weissen, kristallinartigem Kunsstoff hergeststellt ist.
Ein moderner hochauflösender Flat – screen - monitor, der eine computeranimierte langsame Kamerafahrt durch eine sehr real nachkonstruierte Landschaft mit einer Industriearchitektur zeigt, die über Tage hinweg anhält, und so in Lichtstimmungen, Tageszeiten und Wetter ein wechselndes Bild wiedergibt. Diese Arbeit ist mit einer neuen Software erzeugt, die heute zur Herstellung von 3D - Computerspielen verwendet wird. Es handelt sich also um einen virtuellen Raum, der jedoch reale Gegenbenheiten anhand von tausenden vor Ort gemachten Dokumentarfotos exakt nachstellt und auch künstlerisch interpretiert...
http://www.damtschach.at

 

02 February - 25 March 2010
solo exhibition

Thomas Dane Gallery is pleased to announce the first London exhibition of Irish artist John Gerrard.

Extending from Animated Scene, his critically acclaimed presentation at the 53rd Venice Biennale, the artist will exhibit two new works, Sow Farm (near Libbey, Oklahoma) 2009, which depicts a sprawling, unmanned, computer-controlled agricultural complex on the American Great Plains, and Lufkin (near Hugo, Colorado) 2009, a portrait of an oil derrick in the same region...
http://www.thomasdane.com

image 3: seen with Lufkin (near Hugo, Colorado), 2009

» View installation shot: 1  2  3 

What You See is Where You're At
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland
28th November 2009 − 28th February 2010
299 cm x 222 cm site - specific projection
group show curated by Simon Groom

What you see is where you're at forms part of a complete re-hang of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, launching a year of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Gallery.
The display will reveal the richness and range of the Collection in a series of rooms which aim to delight and surprise.
http://www.nationalgalleries.org

» View installation shot

Satellite image of the border region of Oklahoma and Texas, USA.  
image from Google Earth

Satellite image depicting two sow farms similar to those featured in the work.
image from Google Earth

research photograph by the artist 

research photograph by the artist 

Saatchi Online TV & Magazine: John Gerrard @ Thomas Dane

Coxhead, Gabriel: “John Gerrard”, Time Out, February 2010