Phil Magee’s work consists of rearrangements of the commonplace. His materials are the space he finds himself in, and, more or less, the objects that come to hand. The tools he uses are straightforward: alignment, displacement, juxtaposition, and time – or timing.

The results of this considered and continuous activity occupy a spectrum, at one end of which there are interventions in and on the environment so slight, that whoever encounters them can be left disconcertingly unsure whether they have witnessed a natural (if odd) occurrence, or the results of artifice. While at the other end there are more clearly exhibited assemblages of the ordinary objects, undisguised. All are concerned with revelations of the nature of the everyday – exposing its tensions (sometimes released dynamically), humour, and unexpected grace. (Text by Robin Betts)

The Office falls into the category of the latter assemblages, and additionally is an unexpected, surprising, kinetically animated construction. It is Magee’s choice of objects that furthermore concerns The Office with the everyday of the workplace, while the animation plays with a suggestion of the tensions and relationships of work and play within this environment.

philmagee.com