Philip Coy (born 1971) is an English artist known for his films and public works exploring architectures and language. He works across a range of media including

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

video installation Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has ...

sound installation Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary time-based medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBell ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, text, and performance.

Life and work

Born in Gloucester, England, he grew up in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

, Birmingham and Norfolk. He studied Fine Art at

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

(1993), L' écoles des beaux arts à Nantes (1995) and

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

(2000). His early internet sourced video "Eleven Seconds of Paradise" (2000) was made prior to the launch of

Google images Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Gsuite that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001, due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennif ...

using

AltaVista AltaVista was a web search engine established in 1995. It became one of the most-used early search engines, but lost ground to Google and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, which retained the brand, but based all AltaVista searches on its own sear ...

and included in the

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

touring exhibition ''Incommunicado''(2003-4) and

Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...

's ''Waterloo Sunset Pavilion'',

(2002-2003). ''Incommunicados curator Margot Heller described ''Eleven seconds of paradise'' as

"a succinct comment on the negative impact of communication technologies, and as such its efficacy and relevance have increased in the short space of time since it was made."

Coy used

Earth observation Earth observation (EO) is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biosphere, biological systems of the planet Earth. It can be performed via remote sensing, remote-sensing technologies (Earth observation satellites) or throu ...

data from satellites as source material in 2000 prior to the launch of

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

(2004) when satellite navigation became the ubiquitous cultural phenomenon it is today. His 'pixel replacements' such as ''A walk in the park'' (2000), ''Trinidad Triptych ed square' (2004) and ''Black spot'' (2005), reproduced pixels from satellite images to scale, and installed and photographed them in the place they represented on the earth. The works combined techniques of

digital imaging Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of a digital representation of the visual characteristics of an object, such as a physical scene or the interior structure of an object. The term is often assumed to imply or include ...

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

and

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...

to produce a form of

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

. In 2016 Coy became the second Leverhulme artist-in-residence at the Rutherford Appleton Space Laboratory following Elizabeth Price. He researched the processes and materials behind digital satellite imaging to produce the

fulldome Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video display environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time (interactive) or pre-rendered (linear) computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments. Although t ...

film and

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

installation ''Substance'' toured to FACT Liverpool (2017), The Royal Observatory Planetarium,

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direct ...

(2018),

York Art Gallery York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. T ...

. The newsreader and reporter Julia Somerville starred in his film ''Façade'' (2010), which casts London's glass architecture as a transparent subject rendered slowly opaque by the language it engenders. Façade (2010) and Wordland (2008) are held in the BFI Artists Moving Image Collection. He was the inaugural artist in residence at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

(2018–19) where he devised the imprint ''youarehere!'' with author and academic

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...

. The project is explored in the essay ''amidst the susurration of motorways'' by artist/writer/curator Richard Grayson.

Filmography

*''Grit'' (2024) *''Islands'' (2023) *''Substance'' (2018) *''Avoiding Green'' (2017) *''Who goes there?'' (2016) *''as far as i know faik' (2015) *''Sons of unless and children of almost'' (2014) *''Krapp's Shultz'' (2012) *''Façade'' (2010) *''Wordland'' (2008) *''Omega (''2004) *''Eleven Seconds of Paradise'' (2000)(2010)(2020) *''Sound Mirror'' (1999) *''Notes from the waterfall'' (1999)

Public works

''Swete Brethe'' (2021) commissioned by

Matt's Gallery Matt's Gallery is a contemporary art gallery currently located in Nine Elms at 6 Charles Clowes Walk, London, SW11 7AN. Its director, Robin Klassnik OBE, opened the gallery in 1979 on Martello Street, before moving premises to Copperfield Road, ...

, temporary installation adjacent to Embassy of the United States of America in London, featuring composition by Byron Wallen. ''Stereo Pair'' (2021) commissioned by

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

, permanent site-sensitive sound installation, John Crank Gardens in Brunel University. ''Your right to continued existence'' (2016) Islington North, commissioned by TFL and

Islington Council Islington London Borough Council, also known as Islington Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Islington in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majo ...

, installed under the 'Cally Bridge' on the

Caledonian Road, London Caledonian Road in the London Borough of Islington, England, connects North London, from Camden Road near its junction with Holloway Road, and central London's Pentonville Road in the south. A mile and a half long, it is known colloquially a ...

, adjacent to the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

, Caledonian Road & Barnsbury railway station. ''Razzle Dazzle Boogie Woogie'' (2013) Permanent public realm commission installed opposite

Lewisham station Lewisham is an interchange station in Lewisham, south-east London. It provides Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail services. On the National Rail network, it is as measured from and is operated by Southeastern.SoutheasternStat ...

, visible from mainline railway between

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

and

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

. A curved architectural facade of backlit coloured glass panels create a digital camouflage over the facade of

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

's Glass Mill leisure Centre. At night the kinetic work is animated by the sounds of

References

External links

official websitePhil Coy
at

Phil Coy
at

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Phil Coy
a
BFIPhil Coy
at

Film London Film London is London's film and media agency – sustaining, promoting and developing London as a major international film-making and film cultural capital. This includes all the screen industries based in London – film, television, video, co ...

Phil Coy
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coy, Phil 1971 births Living people Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of Norwich University of the Arts Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University English contemporary artists People from Forest of Dean District English experimental filmmakers British conceptual artists English sculptors