Central Railway Station
Photo: Susan Philipsz

IHME Project 2010

The IHME Project 2010 is the new sound installation When Day Closes designed by artist Susan Philipsz for the Helsinki Central Railway Station. In the work the artist performs unaccompanied ‘The Song of My Heart´ (Sydämeni laulu) composed by Jean Sibelius to a poem by Aleksis Kivi. The IHME Project is exhibited in the Central Hall of the Railway Station during 12 March-11 April 2010 and it can be heard from 3 pm to 11 pm every day.

Scottish artist Susan Philipsz (born 1965), who lives in Berlin, is a sculptor by education. She is interested in the spatial and sculpture-like qualities of sound. The psychological effects of song, and how songs can awake direct emotions and memories, are also among the main premises of her artistic work.

Philipsz is interested in the themes of loss and longing in the Finnish 19th century Tuonela lullabies. The song accompanies people from one place and state of mind to another as they pass through the railway station.

"I have chosen Song of My Heart (Sydämeni laulu) by Aleksis Kivi, the author of the first novel in the Finnish language, set to music by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. I appropriate this familiar Finnish tune by situating it in the very public context of the South Hall of Helsinki´s Central Railway Station, designed by Eliel Saarinen. My rendition of Song of My Heart utilises the high vaulted ellipsoid ceiling of the Main Hall of Helsinki´s Central Railway Station. By projecting sound upwards, into the domed ceiling the sound travels around the curve, falling on the other side, creating a ‘whispering gallery´ effect. In this project I want to contrast the intimacy of the lullaby with the bustle and movement of the most traversed public building in Finland, where over 200,000 people pass through every day", tells Susan Philipsz.

The IHME Project will open on Thursday, 11 March. On the same day a public event will be held in which curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev discusses with Susan Philipsz her work in general and her newly opened artwork in particular. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is currently preparing the documenta 13 exhibition that will take place in Kassel, Germany in 2012.

The event is on 11 March at 5 pm, VR Auditorium, Rautatienkatu1, Helsinki. The entrance to the auditorium is on the right-hand side of the station entrance on Rautatientori.