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PRESS ROOM

Crosby Library, Liverpool
1 March - 30 March 2019



Excerpt from ‘Radical Civics: Ciara Phillips’ Press Room’ by Rachel Bennett:

“Throughout March, strangers arrived at Crosby Library for Press Room – daily news reading sessions instigated by Turner Prize nominee Ciara Phillips. The aim was framed loosely as saving whatever seemed salient in the count-down to March 29 2019 – the day that Brexit didn’t happen. Daily papers spread on a shared table, accessorised by scissors, paper and glue were the tools to excavate and analyse. In a scene reminiscent of the clock calamity in the BBC series 2012, mid-month the group noticed the Brexit countdowns had disappeared, without fanfare or explanation,  from the front pages – though the headlines kept coming; further evidence life has become stranger than satire.Later, the stacks of collaged sheets will form a book for the library’s collection. Much, much later, looking at that artefact, readers might level accusations of retroactive reputation management at the group. Like the time capsule’s neurotic urge to shape a cohesive ‘we’, it’s impossible to project a coherent story of this moment into the future. Yet, much like the burying and unburying ritual, the reception of any future remnant matters less than the present enactment.

Philips is best known for the Turner Prize-nominated Workshop (2010–ongoing) – like Press Room it is a durational and situational instigation – a print room whose activities are shaped by the unplannable processes and outcomes of “making together”. The two projects share an unpredictable collaborative nature, but the political climate is a more explicit dynamic here: ‘I knew it would be contentious, but I really wanted to do something that related to the print material that is circulating – not just archiving and keeping it, but involving people in the process, allowing the idiosyncrasies of that to be part of it,’ Philips explains.”

Read the full review here:

   ‘Radical Civics: Ciara Phililps’ Press Room’ by Rachel Bennett for Corridor 8      


With guest artists: Amber Akaunu, Fauziya Johnson, Niamh Roirdan, Mark Simmonds and Laura Yates

Collaborators: Adam, Alan, Amber, Arthur, Andrew, Beau, Ben, Chris, Claire, Dave, Dave, Debbie, Eddy, Else, Eva, Fauziya, Georgia, Gerald, Helen, Jim, Kate, Laura, Lin, Maria, Mary-Jane, Malcolm, Mark, Niamh, Ruth, Sabrina, Tadgh, and others 

Produced by: Maria Brewster and Debbie Chan 
Rule of Threes / At the Library

Commissioned by At The Library


2025Unless otherwise indicated, all images © Ciara Phillips