There’s No Simulation Like Home

Paul Sermon

Archive Exhibitions (13 November to 18 December 1999)
There’s No Simulation Like Home was a large-scale installation that used live teleconferencing links that connected Fabrica in Brighton with the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery.

Artist Paul Sermon created a whole house environment in both galleries featuring a bed, table, couch and bathroom.
People could sit, lie or lounge within the ‘home’ and interact with virtual presence of someone viewing the work elsewhere. The Brighton and Hastings galleries were superimposed on that of somebody in the other gallery .

The exhibition presented an opportunity to allow free public access to hi-tech video conferencing which used every day household objects as telecommunication interfaces. Paul Sermon explained how creating these new interfaces made the use of the technology easier whilst allowing more complex social and psychological interaction possible.

There’s No Simulation Like Home was an exciting opportunity for visitors to fully interact with the physical aspects of the video and sculptural installation and see themselves projected into real and virtual spaces.

About The Artist

Born in Oxford, England, 1966. Studied BA(Hons) Fine Art under Professor Roy Ascott at Newport School of Fine Art, from 1985 to 1988. Studied his Master in Fine Art (MFA) degree at The University of Reading from 1989 to 1991. Completed his PhD 'A phenomenology of empathy and presence through telematic art practice' in 2019 at the University of Brighton, School of Art.

Awarded the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica, in the category of interactive art, for the hyper media installation 'Think about the People now' in Linz, Austria in 1991. Artist in Residence at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1993. Received the Sparky Award from the Interactive Media Festival in Los Angeles for the telepresent video installation 'Telematic Dreaming' in 1994.

Dozent for Media Art at the HGB Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Germany from 1993 to 1999, Professor of Creative Technology at the University of Salford, School of Arts and Media from 2000 to 2013. Guest Professor for Performance and Environment at The University of Art and Design Linz, Austria from 1997 to 2001.

Since September 2013 Professor of Visual Communication and Leader of Doctoral Studies in the School of Art and Media at the University of Brighton. Principal Investigator for the UKRI-AHRC Covid Response project 'Collaborative Solution for the Performing Arts: A Telepresence Stage' from November 2020 to May 2022. 

No simulation 2
Paul sermon
No simulation3

Newsletter

Sign up for updates about events, news and special offers.