Internationally acclaimed DJ and producer Richie Hawtin recently collaborated with digital artist John Gerrard for a live performance built around SPIRITS, Gerrard’s year-long solar artwork project examining society’s dependence on plastic and petroleum. The groundbreaking work at LACMA’s newly opened David Geffen Galleries transforms discarded footwear collected from beaches around the world into high-resolution digital sculptures, which gradually dissolve into rippling oil, as audiences interact with the piece on their devices.
In furtherance of the collaboration, Hawtin is pushing electronic music beyond the club – from the Guggenheim to Prada to his work with PLAYdifferently. Having served as a creative advisor during the development of the score, Hawtin performed alongside Gerrard’s legendary simulations.
“As a visual artist John has often cited music & rave culture as an important influence as he discovered (and danced to) Techno in the early nineties. As a musician, the structure and subtractive nature of my studio works would have never materialized without a deep interest and analysis of the mid-century works of Rothko, Barnet Newman and Donald Judd. For our collaboration at LACMA, John and I will explore the meeting point between sight & sound, rhythm & repetition and analog vs. digital.” – Richie Hawtin
The end result is a meeting of two artists working at the edges of their fields. For Gerrard, SPIRITS uses emerging imaging technology to confront the consequences of modern consumption. For Hawtin, it continues a career-long exploration of how technology can reshape musical experience.
SPIRITS at LACMA is an online exhibition that runs through the remainder of 2026. Best experienced through a mobile browser, viewers can engage with the exhibit here.
Special thanks to Lance Gerber and Michael Wilwani for the images.
