In 2013 Philip was invited to the Netherlands by a prominent Dutch sculptor who was interested in creating a beautiful object that could assist a person to take their life. The sculptor’s own father had suicided by jumping from a building. This horror had left a lasting effect on him. He thought there had to be a better way and he approached Philip for a collaboration.
However, when the sculptor won the brief to create the Schipol Airport memorial to the MH17 crash victims, it was soon apparent that the joint project could not proceed. A new collaborator was needed.
In early 2017 a new Dutch designer came on board and the Sarco project emerged. The first presentation was at the 2017 NuTech (New Technologies for a Peaceful DIY Death) conference in Toronto Canada where a small, 3D-printed model of Sarco was unveiled.
In April 2018 as work progressed, a 3D full-size model of plywood lattice was unveiled at the Amsterdam Funeral Fair at the famous Westerkerk church. The 3D model was accompanied by a virtual reality (VR) software program which gave users an artist’s impression of the view from within the Sarco and the feeling of elevation after the ‘die’ button was pressed.
The following year, the Sarco was invited to be exhibited at Venice Design at the Palazzo Michiel on Venice’s grand canal. The exhibition opened in May 2019 and represented the first time a full-size, fully 3D printed Sarco could be seen. At the same time work started on a second model (Sarco II) which incorporated design changes and was planned for use in Switzerland. However, the new design’s lack of aesthetic appeal led to its subsequent rejection. Sarco II is now in permanent storage.
