Outernet Arts Launches Sunday Exhibition with Simon Denny

Dotcom Séance is a major public project by artist Simon Denny installed across Outernet's wrap-around screens in London’s Soho neighbourhood, free and accessible to the public, from Sunday 16 October 2022

Simon Denny makes visual art and exhibitions that unpack the social and political implications of the technology industry and the rise of social media, start-up culture, blockchains and cryptocurrencies, using a variety of media including installation, sculpture, print and video.

For this project, the artist has selected 21 dotcom era companies declared ‘dead’ in the wake of the ostensible dotcom crash in the early 2000s, with the purpose of “resurrecting” their existence as it stands in a contemporary setting.

Each company was given a number of new logos produced by text-to-image Artificial Intelligence, created in collaboration with Cosmographia. These new logos, which take the form of NFTs, entitle their holders to register an ENS subdomain and serve as “employees” of the reanimated company. The artist Guile Twardowski also designed a bespoke new logo for each company, drawing on the AI outputs. The project’s first iteration went live through the online gallery Folia.app.

Denny’s exhibition coincides with Frieze London 2022 and to mark the occasion, Outernet Arts is hosting a private view panel discussion moderated by Daniel Birnbaum with Simon Denny, Daniel Birnbaum, Maria Paula Fernandez, Guile Twardowski, Shumon Basar, and Marco Brambilla on Thursday 13 October. Following this special preview, Dotcom Séance will be on view every Sunday between 12.00-18.00, from 16 October through 4th December 2022.

Outernet Arts is a new independent arts organisation curated by artistic director Marco Brambilla. With screens stretching across floor-to-ceiling in entirety, covering the expansive interior across four storeys, Outernet Arts serves as one of the world’s largest digital exhibition spaces.

Marco Brambilla, Director of Outernet Arts, said:

"The Outernet Arts programme has at its heart a desire to create an intimacy between the viewer and the artist while presenting work on an unprecedented scale using state-of-the-art technology."

Simon Denny, Artist, said:


"Dotcom Seance at Outernet Arts brings the ghosts of the internet's commercial past to a spectacular business portal in meatspace, to speculate about where the internet meets the future of culture.”

Philip O’Ferrall, CEO Outernet Global, said:


"There is no other space like Outernet London in the world and Outernet Arts will be like no other arts programme. We are incredibly privileged to be working with Marco to lead and curate Outernet Arts because this kind of free public art is something the UK really needs”

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