Phillip K Smith III
120 degree arc east-southeast
Miami Beach, FL2017
What was once a sacred circle in the desert of California is here converted into an arc that seems to hold the sea, a mirrored cove that opens up towards the Caribbean. The work creates a reflective space within the beach environment—the mirrored steel structural elements disappear and meld into the pure elements of water and sky.
The artwork directly engages with the ocean surrounding and the endless heavens above. As the light shifts over the course of the day and the viewer moves through the installation, land, water and sky are separated, merged, and displaced, sub- verting one’s assumed relationship with the horizon and natural boundaries. It is a constantly morphing installation that can never be seen the same way twice.
The artwork directly engages with the ocean surrounding and the endless heavens above. As the light shifts over the course of the day and the viewer moves through the installation, land, water and sky are separated, merged, and displaced, sub- verting one’s assumed relationship with the horizon and natural boundaries. It is a constantly morphing installation that can never be seen the same way twice.
Born and raised in the Coachella Valley, Phillip K Smith III rose to international acclaim in late 2013 after his Joshua Tree light installation, “Lucid Stead,” dazzled viewers across the world. Mirrors on a homestead shack reflected the desert landscape by day and radiated his now patented color-sequencing program by night.
“
I’m interested in an idea of universal beauty. Of something that, like the sunset or the clouds, forces all of us as human beings to stop, no matter what our background is, no matter where we are
”
Phillip K Smith III