Californian artist Phillip K Smith III in five surreal installations
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

The light-based installation works of the artist Phillip K Smith III might typically be fleeting, temporary creations that are set against exceptional nature backdrops, but five of Smith’s most arresting outdoor works are now newly immortalised in a fresh tome called Five Installations, published by the Laguna Art Museum.
Opening with Smith’s breakthrough creation, Lucid Stead (2013) – which saw the artist transform an original Joshua Tree homestead shack into a dynamic mirrored structure that reflected and distorted images of the surrounding desert landscape and sky – the book is filled with detailed photographs that highlight and expand upon Smith’s unique creative approach.
‘This was my first time using the environment as a surface,’ recounts the artist, who has based his studio in Palm Desert since 2000 (see his insider guide to Palm Springs here). ‘[The structure] became a tool for viewing and experiencing the desert.’
02: 1/4 Mile Arc, 2016, by Phillip K Smith III
For Smith, who was born in Los Angeles and pursued both fine art and architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, the vibrant, changing quality of light and the natural landscape – both so unique to the Palm Springs and Death Valley areas – are what he seeks to convey in each of his large-scale works.
In 1/4 Mile Arc, a striking installation Smith created for the Laguna Art Museum in 2016, a gentle arc of reflector planes traces the contour of the beach, reconfiguring and recollaging scenes of the oceanfront surroundings with a new, captivating result. ‘I wanted to create a quarter-mile-long reflective drawing that would change as the environment of Laguna changed,’ says Smith.
While the book also shines a spotlight on Smith’s smaller-scale sculptures, such as a continuing series of mirror works and light works that experiments with the perceptions of reflection, shadow and colour in compact and self-sufficient forms, it is ultimately Smith’s outdoor installations that hold no comparison.
03: The Circle of Land and Sky, 2017, by Phillip K Smith III. Photography: Lance Gerber
03: Aerial view of The Circle of Land and Sky, 2017, by Phillip K Smith III. Photography: Lance Gerber.
04: Reflection Field, 2014, by Phillip K Smith III. Photography: Lance Gerber.
05: Portals, 2016, by Phillip K Smith III. Photography: Lance Gerber
INFORMATION
Five Installations, $29.95, published by Laguna Art Museum (opens in new tab). For more information, visit Phillip K Smith III’s website.
Pei-Ru Keh is the US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru has held various titles at Wallpaper* since she joined in 2007. She currently reports on design, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru has taken a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars and actively seeks out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Lucas Ossendrijver continues his fashion return with Theory collection inspired by New Yorkers
Lucas Ossendrijver looks to the brand’s home city of New York for his second ‘Theory Project’ collection (released 31 March 2023) melding function and elegance in his signature style
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Bosco Sodi’s monumental new Mexico City studio is a multifunctional feat
As Bosco Sodi unveils his new Studio CMDX in Atlampa, Mexico City, we speak to the artist about how the vast Alberto Kalach-designed former warehouse is a feat in multitasking
By Juliana Piskorz • Published
-
Saltviga House is an architectural celebration of leftovers
Saltviga House by Kolman Boye Architects ingeniously uses offcuts from Dinesen planks to create a timber retreat on the south coast of Norway
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
The best London art exhibitions: a guide for March 2023
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, and those around the UK in March 2023, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Published
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
New York art exhibitions: what to see in 2023
Stay up-to-date with our ongoing guide to the best New York art exhibitions 2023 for your diary
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
Remote Antarctica research base now houses a striking new art installation
In Antarctica, Kyiv-based architecture studio Balbek Bureau has unveiled ‘Home. Memories’, a poignant art installation at the remote, penguin-inhabited Vernadsky Research Base
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Best contemporary art books: a guide for 2023
From maverick memoirs to topical tomes, turn over a new leaf with the Wallpaper* arts desk’s pick of new releases and all-time favourite art books
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
The best photography books for your coffee table
Flick through, mull over and deep-dive into the best photography books on the market, from our shelves to you
By Sophie Gladstone • Published
-
Stephen Shore book ‘Topographies’ sees the photographer take his eye to the USA’s skies
Stephen Shore book ‘Topographies: Aerial Surveys of the American Landscape’ offers a fresh photographic view of the USA’s vast and varied idiosyncrasies
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Ryoji Ikeda and Grönlund-Nisunen saturate Berlin gallery in sound, vision and visceral sensation
At Esther Schipper gallery Berlin, artists Ryoji Ikeda and Grönlund-Nisunen draw on the elemental forces of sound and light in a meditative and disorienting joint exhibition
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published