Philip Lee

15 September 2005
London Gallery West
University of Westminster
Harrow Campus

For the opening of Pieces By Eight: New Ceramics at London Gallery West the artist performed Slip VI.

Pieces By Eight: New Ceramics was a exhibition of work by eight artists working with clay in an experimental way in the form of sculpture, installation and performance. Philip Lee installed one of the gallery spaces with a wooden frame in the form of a trough, lined with waxed canvas and filled to the brim with grey-white runny clay or slip. Beneath this was a large canvas sheet covering the floor of the performance area. To one side of the trough was a low plinth of wood covered in the same waxed-canvas.

The artist walked the length of the gallery naked to the trough, submerged himself in the clay, and then stood on the plinth. He retraced his steps through the gallery covered in clay.

Helen Mansfield, assisted by Adrian Udal filmed the performance. A 12 minute video loop of the performance, edited by Steve Brown and Philip Lee, was projected life-size on the wall beyond the installation. The installation remained as it was after the performance for the month of the exhibition.

Philip Lee initiated and co-curated Pieces By Eight with Anne Jamison and Detta Fane. Along with Anne and Detta, he also editted the exhibition catalogue. The catalogue includes the poem - "I'm Naked Now". Written by Lee, it describes his experience during the performance of Slip II of March 2004 - a performance similar to Slip VI.

Poem

I'm Naked Now
Philip Lee, August 2005

Gloria Tessler

Of Philip's performance on 15th September, Gloria Tessler writes in her November 2005 Art Notes in the Journal of the Association of Jewish Refugees:

".......The show was stolen by a human installation provided in the nude person of Philip Lee, who robotically walked towards a vessel of soft clay into which - I could only see froma digital camera in front of me - he immersed himself . More revealing than Philip's nudity were the expressions on the faces of the people who packed the room."

The Joy of Clay

On 23 January a new video edit of the Slip VI performance was shown at The Joy Of Clayat the Design Museum in London. The Joy Of Claywas an evening celebrating ceramics at the Design Museum in a homage to all that is clay.
http://www.designmuseum.org/design-overtime