Philip Speakman
philipspeakman@hotmail.com
@philipspeakman
based in London.
After the Vale, video installation, with Steph Linn, 2026
The Thing in The Basement, presentation, 2026
It May Start Out as a Game..., journal article, 2025
The Road That Eats Thoughts, live role play game, 2025
Reality Break, audio for radio, 2024
Katabasing, XR performance, 2024
A Self-Induced Hallucination, workshop, 2024
Chapel Perilous, moving image, 2023
The Forked Path, moving image, 2023
After Cottingley, engraved
mirror, 2023
The Fauna of Mirrors, sculptural moving image, 2022
Transforming Through the Screen..., critical writing, 2022
No Flaming House, collaborative moving image, 2021
The Err, outdoor sculpture, 2021
Tell, story telling sessions, 2018-2019
After the Vale
made with Steph Linn
synched three screen video installation with sound on headphones, mild steel, knitted wool, mohair, and silk
12:15
2026
Commissioned for ‘Phantasmagoria: Folkloric Sculpture for the Digital Age’ at Henry Moore Institute (5th May to 30th August 2026).
Made through TTRPG style role-play sessions, the work tells the story of Kett’s Rebellion, a 16th century enclosure protest in Norfolk which turned into an armed rebellion, and the popular prophecy in the form of a rhyme which lead it to disaster. Using the to-camera address of social media ‘stories’, After the Vale considers the disruptive effects of political prophecy, a popular phenomena once seen as a folk propaganda of the masses before being banned by Henry VIII and becoming a weapon of the state, and the role of prophecy in disrupting desires for social justice and anti-capitalist sentiment at a time of spiralling wealth accumulation. The work thinks about the role of prophecy in a post-truth era, from QAnon to Roko's Basilisk, and the way political movements become shaped by their online storytelling.
Performed by Martha Horn, Harry Maberly, Cameron McClellan, Danny Pagarani, Chris Trueman and Tash Rowan
Photos by Rob Harris