Remote Viewer
Project description
Remote Viewer is a video and installation work by British artist Graham Gussin (b. 1960, London) that explores time, space, perception and the uncertain boundaries between reality and the virtual. Gussin’s multidisciplinary practice encompasses video, photography, installation, sculpture and digital media, often drawing on science fiction, technology and the supernatural to investigate psychological and philosophical questions.
The work centres on an experiment undertaken in September 2001, when Gussin travelled to Askja, a remote region of Iceland known for its stark, lunar-like landscape. As he moved through the vast and desolate terrain, a remote viewer—an individual trained to perceive distant locations through claimed paranormal abilities—was tasked with tracking his movements and identifying his precise location.
The title refers to the practice of remote viewing, a technique associated with both paranormal research and intelligence communities in which practitioners claim to obtain information about distant or unseen locations without relying on conventional sensory perception. Gussin uses this premise to explore questions of observation, surveillance and the possibility of accessing knowledge indirectly.
Remote Viewer reflects Gussin’s broader interest in the ways technology and systems of mediation reshape our relationship to space, time and the self. Landscape becomes both physical territory and psychological space, while the remote viewer introduces an invisible and uncertain dimension into the work. The tension between what can be seen, what can be recorded and what remains inaccessible creates an atmosphere of ambiguity and unease.
Gussin’s installations frequently occupy a space between the cinematic and the conceptual, combining futuristic imagery, abstract compositions and technological processes with a heightened sense of mystery. His work considers the instability of perception and the possibility that reality may be experienced through multiple, sometimes contradictory viewpoints.
Bio
Graham Gussin (b. 1960, London, UK) is a British contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses video, photography, installation, sculpture, sound and drawing. His work explores time, space, perception and the relationship between physical and virtual realities, often drawing on science fiction, technology, surveillance and the supernatural.
Gussin has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Earlier exhibitions include States of Mind at the New Museum, New York (2001), Remote Viewer at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2002), Terrain Vague at the Henry Moore Foundation Contemporary Projects (2003), Spill at Ikon Eastside, Birmingham (2006), CLEARBLUESKYDEEPDARKWATER at the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela (2013), and Self at Turner Contemporary, Margate (2015). His work was also included in The Divergent Gaze at Arquipélago – Centro de Artes Contemporâneas in the Azores (2019).
More recent presentations include CAM in Motion: presence presence presence at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon (2022), where his video Hotel Reverb (2018) was presented as part of the Latent Echoes cycle. In 2024, his work was included in Thresh(hold) at Three Highgate, London, and Forever at the Agora, Cité internationale de la danse, Montpellier, presented with the FRAC Occitanie Montpellier.
In 2025, Gussin participated in The Pleasure of Misuse at the Royal Society of Sculptors, London, a group exhibition exploring the transformation and reinterpretation of everyday objects. His continuing practice also includes photographic and print works such as Other Days (2021), Reflector (Dead Ringers) (2021), Reflector (Forbidden Planet) (2023) and Transmitters (2023).
Project details
Year: 2002
Artist: Graham Gussin
Programme: Film and Video Umbrella Touring Exhibition
Commissioned in association with: Ikon Gallery
Supported by: National Touring Programme of Arts Council England; The Henry Moore Foundation
Format: Video and installation
Country: United Kingdom