Download the Catalogue PDF - Afgangs-undstillingen 2010

UK:
Empire of the Son
John Doe: What are you working on with right now?
Phillip: My current works (installation, mixed media) are dealing with
the social structures within the shipping industry. Through maritime
history (mostly dominated by men) the shipping industry has created
a network of social, political and economic ties between nations. The
commodity market and shipping go hand in hand as for development.
In a world where the term “Cargo is king” we have seen
cheaper freight rates, an increase in ship sizes and in the number of
commodities shipped around the world creating the global economy
as we know it. Shipping has changed the way we live our lives and
the trade is continually expanding its markets.
JD: How do you view art in the context of shipping and its economic
impact globally?
P: Today the global economy is dependent on the highly developed
shipping infrastructure and the dedicated people who “keep the
machinery running”. Art as a marketplace has developed in that
sense, too. You could say the art market and its internal mechanisms
of supply and demand mimic and function at different levels like
the global economy. Before and after the economic crisis we have
seen a global impact on the art market causing a change for better
or worse. Before the crisis the prices of artworks by different artists
nearly resembled the prices of shipbuilding. The shipping industry
is also used to recessions and booms and some companies close
down, some recover or consolidate like the different players in the
art market. So in that sense they are very much alike. The business
within art and shipping is done on a “grace-favour-basis” dialectic
between the different players on the market.
JD: So where did you get your inspiration and the idea for the
making of the "Empire Of The Son"?
P: My grandfather worked all his life at a shipyard which closed
down years ago. Today Denmark has closed most of its shipyards
and an era of Danish shipbuilding is phased out. My father worked
as a shipbroker worldwide which meant a lot of travelling and living
abroad. The way they lived their lives has inspired me at certain
levels. I was raised to follow in the footsteps of my father, visiting different
shipping companies in Denmark and abroad, but for different
reasons I started studying at The Funen Academy Of Fine Arts. One
could say that the title Empire Of The Son sums up my contemplation
regarding shipping that never took place, but it also refers to an
overall classic social structure of lineage and the history of individuals’
inherited positions in society. Years ago I remember filing telexes
at the headquarters of The East Asiatic Company in Copenhagen.
The telex paper had different layers of coloured paper. I distributed
and filed the papers in the office on tables and in filing cabinets. So
you could say that as an artist in this context the filing process has
returned to fill the gap or void of my unfulfilled role within the world
of shipping. Personally, I look at it as “the ring is closed”, a linkage
to lineage.
JD: Why is it important to work with the social structures?
P: Looking back I should now have a successful career in shipping,
but I have always wondered why one would work with the “no cure
no pay” principle within shipping. And why does not shipping play
a more dominant part in societys consciousness. I mean 90 % of
trade is handled by shipping. That means a lot of power in this world.
I think one of the reasons why nobody is thinking about this is that
the shipping community is a small and closed society. The people
of this trade together with politicians and bankers all live well of this
almost invisible powerhouse. It is surprising that I have never heard
of a child in Denmark claiming “I want to become a ship-owner”. But
of course choosing to work in shipping is a lifestyle and you have to
have a good strategic sense and financial or political overview that
can protect you and your endeavours. Of course, people know about
paintings or images of ships, Somali pirates on the news and the big
players of shipping, but behind hermetically sealed doors you find
the real social structures. The human face of today’s shipping in the
cultural, historical narrative is rarely revealed or told, even though,
occasionally, we have biographies written about some of the more
successful businessmen.
We go about our business without wondering how shipping and
issues related to tax or raw materials have an impact on people’s
lives. Without shipping you could close down the earth as we know
it and it would be hard to maintain our capitalistic system. I am
interested in showing and working with these narratives about the
people behind the curtain. Within this context I also asked myself
what might appear when looking at the similarities and differences
of the semiotic language revolving around the notion of the ark, the
ship, the container, the launching ritual and the history of man and
machine? How may this lineage, personally and globally, intervene,
transgress, supersede and intertwine history at this point in time?
An understanding beyond the known representation of traditional
ship paintings and ship models is achieved to further social development
within the maritime business frame. I have previously created
works dealing with political and financial subjects motivated by the
times we live in, but I perceive this work as the most personal until
now.
JD: Otherwise what does your line of work represent?
P: For the time being I am looking at different political and economic
themes from a general point of view, such as design, politics, anaesthesia/anaesthetics
(the soporific society), dominance and the social
structures in the world of business.
Besides, I use art as a wholly integrated part of the cityscape, like
the work “beggars cup” – keep the change, which is exhibited in the
street with me standing beside it.
My works include several layers, which are up the viewer to interpret
in a way that suits them. My reflections regarding the soporific
element are anchored in the discourse which partly criticizes the
cultural institution. Today, society contains a soporific (memory challenged)
element. I would like to look at this in detail.
I consider this a work in progress since the seascape is so vast that
an establishment of several reference points is needed over time
to allude and navigate further into the horizon of maritime history. I
normally prefer to do research and cooperate with different players
to create a platform for my artworks which is why I always work with
mixed media. So I work with materials that fit the idea of the artwork.
Mostly my works have a lot of layers and I have especially been
dealing with the anaesthetics within society for some time now. The
artworks have been shown as installations on different occasions,
not always visible to the naked eye. Implicitly in my works is the
discussion and criticism of various political, social and economic issues
and it is my objective to spur this in the viewer. My art is meant
to be served on a silver plate of reasoning, one has to do more than
just look and desire.