Sunset Bar explores the virtual bar with the same name. It is one of many user-created worlds on the social virtual platform VRChat. The platform resembles a video game, but its purpose is to meet and socialize without being physically present.
In his practice, Simon Johannesson employs documentary photographic principles. In this project, he embraces this tradition with the aim of treating the virtual space as any other place. A key inspiration is Anders Petersen’s intimate portraits from the Hamburg bar Café Lehmitz (1978).
The video work is presented through the ”Pepper’s ghost” illusion, which has its roots in 19th-century theatre, creating an immersive and intimate experience for the viewer. The film consists of documentation of the space and interviews with its visitors.
What’s the difference between a virtual bar and a physical one?
How do we behave in the virtual space compared to the world we already know?
As part of the group exhibition How I Would Like To Blow a Huge Bubble Around Me (2026)
Included in the exhibition:
Video installation
25:41 min
Sculptures:
Bar table 1 & Bar table 2
~100 cm x ⌀ 70 cm
As part of the solo exhibition Welcome to Sunset Bar (2026)
As part of the group exhibition Blueprint (2025)
