Gareth Phillips
UNITED KINGDOM
Instagram @garethphillips_
Gareth Phillips is a photographer exploring contemporary definitions of the photobook, experimenting with them as objects, sculptures and installations. He has an established international exhibition and award history, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Aesthetica Art Prize, The KG+ Kyotographie Japan Award, The Gomma New Flavours Award and was the winner of the 2023 RAKFAF Festival Award for Sculpture. He is an alumni of the Reflexions Masterclass and is based in the UK.
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Caligo
Considering the future of humankind is a daunting endeavour. Our continued exploitation of the environment and its resources continues to provoke deep concern. This concern has been the driving force behind the creation of this unique photobook. Invoking references to environmental consequence, mortality, and religion, this photobook sculpture depicts the fictional story of a group of humans escaping climate catastrophe, that seek asylum on an alien Eden called Caligo. It is an imagined planet, untouched by humans that is verdant, lush and wild. It is the asylum humans might seek after their own climate catastrophe. It is the dark menacing cloud that will always follow them. Created in the South Island of New Zealand it is a body of work that celebrates our environment whilst challenging the contemporary definition of what could be considered a photobook. Using fiction, rather than documentary, it highlights how humanity acknowledges the majesty of a pristine environment only after it has destroyed its own.