Prof. Paul Sermon - RAE 2008 Returnable Research Outputs
Creative Technology Research Group, Art & Design, The University of Salford

Output 2: At home with Jacques Lacan

Project Links:

http://www.beap.org/beap2004/ (Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth 2004)

http://www.johncurtingallery.curtin.edu.au/exhibitions/archive/2004.cfm#perceptualdifference/ (Curtin University, John Curtin Gallery: Perceptual Difference)

http://creativetechnology.salford.ac.uk/paulsermon/lacan/ (Project Description by Paul Sermon: At home with Jacques Lacan)

At home with Jacques Lacan was an interactive art installation produced for the Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth (BEAP04) Australia in August 2004. In order to research, develop and complete this installation Paul Sermon was invited by Curtin University of Technology Perth to undertake a two month Visiting Research Fellowship, which provided him access to high end computing resources, studio space and ICT assistance. With further support from the Arts Council of England a total of £7,000 funding was secured in order to undertake the research and presentation of the Installation.

The research was defined under the BEAP04 sub-theme of 'Perceptual-Difference: Vision Systems' and aimed to explore the boundaries of our current understanding of perception, showcasing innovative use of emerging technologies that effectively challenge audiences’ perceptions of their perceptions.

Paul Sermon’s telematic artwork was inspired by Jacques Lacan’s early psychoanalytical writings that suggest the human psyche is constructed as a mirror image that we contemplate as if it is on stage in front of us. At home with Jacques Lacan functioned by linking two identical installations through the use of live chroma-keying and video-conferencing technology. Two public rooms or installations (complete with sofa, table, monitors and video cameras) were joined in a virtual duplicate where the user/performer observed their mirrored counterparts, becoming the “voyeurs of their own spectacle”.

BEAP04 include a two day conference “Perceptual Difference” featuring Paul Sermon as a Keynote speaker with his paper entitled “Puppeteers, Performers or Avatars - A perceptual difference in telematic space”. Other conference speakers included Christopher Curtin (USA), Sarah-Mace Dennis (Aus), Ernest Edmonds (UK), Linda Erceg (Aus), Ian Gwilt (Aus), Mike Leggett (Aus) and Mark Palmer (UK). Preceding this event, Paul Sermon also gave a conference paper at BEAP02 for the Consciousness Reframed Conference, convened by Roy Ascott in 2002.