SPIRITS is john gerrard's most ambitious project to date. A digitally native, interactive artwork, it is the first institutional project in the world to employ gaussian splatting, a spatial imaging technology that reconstructs environments from cloud-like fields of data. Presented exclusively on LACMA's homepage, it also marked the first time in the museum's history that a major solo exhibition was experienced entirely in the browser.

West of Here was brought on to help translate this digital artwork into a public cultural moment. We developed community partnerships and advised on engagement strategy for SPIRITS Summer Solstice Dance, a one-night activation held adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits during the opening celebrations of LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries, designed by Peter Zumthor. The event debuted Peak Oil, an original psychoacoustic composition by john gerrard, alongside a headline DJ set by electronic music pioneer Richie Hawtin.

By connecting environmental organizations, cultural institutions, and local communities to the work's central themes of petroleum, landscape, and technological infrastructure, West of Here helped extend SPIRITS beyond the browser, transforming a digital artwork into a shared civic experience rooted in the very geology that inspired it.