Ars Electronica Festival · 2018
Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017
by John Gerrard
🏆 Honorary Mention · Prix Ars Electronica 2018
In 2018, the Prix Ars Electronica jury recognised “Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017” by John Gerrard (Computer Animation) with a Honorary Mention.
*Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017* depicts the site of the 'Lucas Gusher'—the world's first major oil find—in Spindletop, Texas in 1901, now barren and exhausted. The site is recreated as a digital simulation and placed at its center is a flagpole bearing a flag of perpetually-renewing pressurized black smoke.
About John Gerrard
John Gerrard (IE), born in 1974, is widely regarded as a key contemporary figure in the development of digital media. Deceptively looking like film or video, his works are simulations—virtual worlds, made using real-time computer graphics, a technology…
Programme information from Prix Ars Electronica Archive. Short excerpt quoted for reference; see the original page for full text, images and credits.