Title : Wish you were here?
Medium: Collage
Dimensions : 6 pieces – Each piece is 59.4cm x 84.1cm (A1)
About the artwork:
The selection of collages created in the series “Wish you were here? (2021)” by Phil Scott explore our own concept of memory and attachment with a given place. The juxtaposition and connections within the work relate through line, colour and content to form new surrealist environments that provide the longing and connections we all craved during the restrictions of the global pandemic.
Scott incorporates imagery carefully sourced for travel brochures and catalogues advertising these destinations that we were unable to reach. The work questions where would you like to be, without fully associating the memory of places with a specific visit or location. Inspired by the surrealist landscape works of Max Ernst, Scott creates these fictitious fantasy landscapes that lend themselves to chance finds and careful consideration. The compositions present unrestrained boundaries and borders that allow our minds to wander and find paths to create narratives, both new and old. The series plays with the concept of memory, combining places, making forced and organic connections between time and place whilst also creating new fantastical locations. The methodology and practice combines accuracy and a haphazard combination of collaged photography from the redundant brochures stacked up in our lockdown location.
The work transforms the unobtainable to offer glimpses of hope when visiting a far away island, as in Ø (2021) or built up woodland, as in Skov (2021). Hopefully you can find that location that you seek out and question, where do you wish you were?
About Phil:
Phil Scott’s work re-examines our relationship with two-dimensional imagery. Often using photographic imagery his work carefully removes the context and through sophisticated juxtaposition conveys a new meaning within the final work(s).
In his work we often see concepts and relationships develop as the work has been created, making organic and often forced relationships with the world we inhabit. The image has become prevalent and the reading of imagery has become a primary tool in our understanding of the contemporary world and how we arrived at our destination. Scott’s intervention in the concept of the image creates a resonance that re-submits parts of the image in a poignant translation of the society we currently inhabit.
The motto of “Find, Cut & Paste” has become a primitive motto of the processes Scott follows, but placing an emphasis on the “find” or sourcing of the images he transforms these unique artefacts into contemporary works in combination with other such imagery. The work is largely an extension of later Dada works, evoking similarities with the role of power and hidden propaganda in the original source materials. The works frequently challenge and find a place within the context of art and art history allowing the audience to attach their own meanings and narrative from the clever combination of found imagery.