Phil Taylor - Biography
Biography:
Phil Taylor is an artist based in Brighton, UK, working primarily with video, photography and sound. Taylor has shown his work nationally and internationally since graduating from Oxford Brookes University in 1998.
Many of Taylor’s time-based projects focus upon specific locations that have an historical event or significance associated with them, such as the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany and the former East German TV Tower in Berlin. These works interpret and document the locations whilst also presenting an emotive and personal viewpoint. A recent video work entitled ‘Losing Ground’ will be exhibited at the ‘Future Places’ festival in Porto, Portugal in October 2011.
A long running theme in Taylor’s work has been his exploration of cultural and historical aspects of life in the North-West American state of Montana. The resulting video and photographic work investigates perceptions of race, anti-federalism and the gun culture that exists there, and the rich history of 19th century pioneer life in this sparsely populated state.
An interactive piece, ‘The Last Best Place’ (video, 2006), explores these themes through documenting and responding to the cultural and political life of the state of Montana. Montana's self-image is embodied in the phrase: 'The Last Best Place', and many 'traditional' (non‐Native American) inhabitants of the state have held on to, or adopted, an archaic, nostalgic vision of pioneer frontier life. A healthy disrespect for federal law and interference is coupled with a loyal adherence to a traditional cowboy/cowgirl lifestyle, albeit with a brand new Ford pick‐up and satellite CMTV. Many of these beliefs have potentially dangerous undercurrents in the white supremacist organizations that exist throughout North America. The work presented a personal interpretation of these themes juxtaposing the nostalgic melancholy for an idealized pioneer lifestyle with the pursuit of unadulterated commercialism embodied in consumerist America.
Sound is an integral, sometimes pre-eminent element of Taylor’s video work. In ‘Your Order Number is | 05’ Taylor spent a year recording first hand audio from the urban and natural environment of Brighton’s seafront. The work is a response to and exploration of the concept that our understanding and interpretation of our environment by visual stimuli with sonic elements often subjugated to the prevailing visual experience.
Exhibitions:
2011 Nunhead Open 8 - 'Poisonville' video installation, UK
2011 Latitude Festival - 'Poisonville' video installation, UK
2010 Soundwaves Festival video installation, International Experimental Music Festival, Brighton, UK
2010 White Night Cultural Festival '30 Seconds of Fortune', Brighton, UK
2010 Future Places, video, international festival of digital media and culture, Porto, Portugal
2010 Cine City - ‘Your Order Number is |05’, Brighton film & video festival, Brighton, UK
2010 World Views, photographs, Southeast Gallery of Photographic Art, Miami, USA
2010 Brighton Art Fair, 'La Marseillaise' video installation, Brighton, UK
2008 Art of Sounds, the 1st annual international festival of electroacoustic and polymedia art,
Guarnerius Art Center in Belgrade, Serbia.
2006 ‘Ocean Terminal Britannia’, video, Cafe Diverso Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2005 ‘Your Order Number is |05’, photography & video, exhibition, IO Gallery, Brighton, UK
Curriculum Vitae (60kb PDF)
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