Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas)

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 centre a flagpole bearing a flag of perpetually-renewing pressurised black smoke, which the artist describes as a monument to the carbon legacy of the twentieth century. Originally commissioned by Channel 4 for broadcast on Earth Day, 22 April 2017. Subsequently presented at Desert X (Palm Springs), 2019, and by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary outside the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid in conjunction with the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP25, 2019. The work is held in the permanent collections of the Pinault Collection, TBA21 Thyssen Bornemisza Art of the 21st Century. , and in LACMA as a tokenised 30-second looping video extract. The work has circulated globally as a recurring image in climate discourse since its release and is considered one of the most important and impactful works of computer-generated live art of the early twenty-first century.
The work is a continuous simulation made using real-time computer graphics software. Every frame is generated live at approximately 50 frames per second, no two moments repeating. The simulation is locked to the computer's clock: the sun rises and sets at the exact times it would at Spindletop, Texas. Day lengths shifting across a full 365-day cycle.
The collector downloads and runs the software on a local PC, accompanied by a paper certificate of authenticity or an Ethereum blockchain token serving as on-chain proof of ownership.

Producer: Werner Poetzelberger Programmer: Helmut Bressler Modelers: Max Loegler, Philipp Marcks Game Engine: Unigine Exhibition design by Jakob Illera/Inseq. Commissioned by Channel 4 for broadcast April 22nd, Earth Day 2017.

Art|Basel June 2026

Flare (Oceania)

Flare (Oceania), 2022 features a gas flare burning in the form of a flag in the South Pacific Ocean near Tonga. Inspired by the late Tongan activist and artist Uili Lousi whose statement ‘The Ocean is Burning’ in Madrid in 2019 lit the fire that gave rise to the work, Flare (Oceania) meditates on the existential threat that heating oceans pose to low-lying lands, as well as the economic and geopolitical factors contributing to the climate crisis. The artist describes Flare as an alarm for the burning present. 
The work is a continuous simulation made using real-time computer graphics software. Every frame is generated live at approximately 50 frames per second, no two moments repeating. The simulation is locked to the computer's clock: the sun rises and sets at the exact times it would at Spindletop, Texas. Day lengths shifting across a full 365-day cycle.
The collector downloads and runs the software on a local PC, accompanied by a paper certificate of authenticity or an Ethereum blockchain token serving as on-chain proof of ownership.

Commissioned by Bridgitt Evans.

Producer: Werner Poetzelberger Programmer: Helmut Bressler Ocean Photography : Uili Lousi + Community. Exhibition design by Jakob Illera/Inseq. Flare (Oceania) was commissioned by Bridgitt Evans. Presented in loving memory of Uili Lousi.

STANDARD

STANDARD, 2023 (formerly Surrender Flag) depicts a white flag, a symbol of peace, formed from plumes of water vapour evaporating in a desert landscape in Nevada. Though fragile and ephemeral, the flag stands as a cautiously optimistic signpost pointing towards a world less dependent on fossil fuels. For gerrard, the work 'looks to the future, towards ideas of stoppage, parlay and submission to larger planetary realities'. The work proposes that we share one atmosphere, an invisible commons that recognises no national or political boundaries, and that we may choose collectively how to care for it. 
The work is a continuous simulation made using real-time computer graphics software. Every frame is generated live at approximately 50 frames per second, no two moments repeating. The simulation is locked to the computer's clock: the sun rises and sets at the exact times it would at the depicted location near the Mojave Desert in Nevada. Day lengths shifting across a full 365-day cycle.
The collector downloads and runs the software on a local PC, accompanied by a paper certificate of authenticity or an Ethereum blockchain token serving as on-chain proof of ownership.

Commissioned by Catherine Walsh and premiered at the Hayward Gallery, London, 2023.

Producer: Werner Poetzelberger Programmer: Helmut Bressler Landscape scanning: Cedarleaf VFX Exhibition design by Jakob Illera/Inseq. Game engine by Unigine Commissioned by Catherine Walsh and presented by U2 in U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere.

Basel, Switzerland — 11 May 2026 THE PAST. THE PRESENT. THE FUTURE
Three flags. One arc. A nine-year body of work, completed before the present moment arrived, that now describes it precisely.
WESTERN FLAG (SPINDLETOP, TEXAS), 2017 turns to the past. A flag of carboniferous smoke at the site of the Lucas Gusher in Texas, where the first major oil strike occurred in 1901. A monument to a century of oil. 
FLARE (OCEANIA), 2022 holds the present. A gas flare burning in the form of a flag over the South Pacific near Tonga. An alarm sounded over a heating ocean.
STANDARD, 2023 looks to a hopeful future. A flag of water vapour rising near the Mojave Desert in Nevada. Borderless, colourless, a signal of stoppage, of parlay, of submission to planetary realities larger than any nation.
Past, present, future. Earth, fire, water. Three works that share one atmosphere across space and time, presented as data in transit in the game engine. Shown together for the first time at Art Basel, Basel, 2026.

john gerrard

Art|Basel June 2026

Overview

"We are honoured to present a triptych by john gerrard, Western Flag, Flare (Oceania) and Standard, brought together for the first time at Art Basel, Basel 2026."

Artworks