Introduction to Susan Philipsz
The Scottish artist Susan Philipsz (b. 1965), living in Berlin, has realised the IHME Project 2010 When Day Closes in Helsinki Railway Station. Her IHME Edition entitled After Closedown was realised in autumn 2009 in collaboration with TV channel YLE Teema.
The foundation invited Philipsz to realise the IHME Project 2010 because in recent years she has proved to be a highly interesting and original contemporary artist. In her work she combines elements important to the foundation's agenda: collective experience and an interest in public space.
The songs used by Philipsz in her works trigger people´s collective memory and thus present another way of looking at a community. In addition to museum and gallery exhibitions, she has created several sound pieces in public spaces since the year 1995. In these works location and context - e.g. a church, a supermarket, an auditorium - are an integral part of the artwork.
Philipsz studied Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee, Scotland from 1989 to 1993 and did her MA at the University of Ulster in Belfast from 1993 to 1994.
Philipsz creates sculptures using sound. She is interested in the values related to space and how sound can define architecture. The psychological effects of song and the way songs can evoke immediate emotions and memories, emphasizing the listener´s spatial perception of the self are some of the key elements of Philipsz´ approach.
Philipsz often uses popular music and film themes as the basis of her art. In her works, she sings - usually a cappella - melancholy tunes that deal with absence, loss and longing.
One of the major breakthroughs of Philipsz´ career was the Sculpture Projects Münster ´07 in Germany. The focus of this event in Münster, organised once every decade, is art in public space. Philipsz designed a work called The Lost Reflection in Münster. Located under a bridge, this work is based on Jacques Offenbach´s composition The Tales of Hoffmann, which has its origins in the writings of the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann.
It tells the story of the evil courtesan Giulietta, whose seductive powers enabled her to steal Hoffman´s reflection. The story sung by Philipsz travels across the water as a beautiful duet. The artwork became so popular with the local public that the city of Münster decided to purchase the piece and make it a permanent addition to the city´s collection of public art, alongside works from such artists as Bruce Nauman, Dan Graham, Jorge Pardon and Jenny Holzer.
In Scandinavia Susan Philipsz´ works have been on show at, for instance, a solo exhibition at Malmö Konsthall and the Jarla Partilager Foundation in Stockholm in 2008-2009. In Finland Philipsz´ sound installation Two Part Harmony (2006) was featured in the ARS06 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.
Susan Philipsz exhibitions and projects in 2009 included an exhibition called Lowlands at Museum Ludwig, in Köln, and a work called Appear To Me at the Silos monastery in Burgos, Spain, commissioned by Lynne Cooke, the chief curator of the Reina Sofia art museum in Madrid. A new work in a public space was materialised on Governors Island, New York, produced in conjunction with Creative Time.
Susan Philipsz is represented by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York, Ellen de Bruijne Projects in Amsterdam and Isabella Bortolozzi Galleryin Berlin.
Susan Philipsz´ artworks in public space:
2010
Lowlands GI, Glasgow international Festival of Visual Art, Glasgow, Scotland, April 2010RES PUBLICA, The Modern Art Center of The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2010
When Day Closes, IHME Project 2010, Helsinki, Finland, March 2010
I See a Darkness, Kunst Halle, St Gallen, Switzerland, February 2010
The River Cycle, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, USA, March 2010
'The Shallow Sea´ Haunted, Guggenheim, New York, USA, March 2010
2009
Appear To Me, Real Abadia de Silos, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Liberty, Lima Pier, Governors Island, New York, USA
We´ll All Go Together, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, USA
Woods so Wild, Victoria Miro Garden, London, UK
Rosa, Centre of Contemporary Art, Tourn, Poland
From A Distance, Imperial War Museum, Duxford, UK
2008
One and the Same, Music Hall, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, USA
Pathetic Fallacy, Folkstone Triennale, Folkstone, UK
More Than This, Juan Miro Foundation, Palma, Majorca, Spain
The Internationale, Out of Bounds, ICA, London, UK
The Internationale, Turbine Hall, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, Australia
Long Gone, Aspen Art Museum, Colorado, USA
Sunset Song, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art, Italy
2007
The Lost Reflection, Skulptur Projekte Münster 07, Germany
Follow Me, Madrid Abierto, Madrid, Spain
Long Gone, The Grand Promenade, Athens, Greece
2006
Follow Me, Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Spain
Rosa, Tina B, Festival of Contemporary Art, Prague
Radio Waves Goodbye, Hidden Rythms, Nijmegen, Netherlands
2005
Stay With Me, Church of Santa Crux, Turin Triennale, Rivoli, Italy
The Long Goodbye, Leaps of Faith, Nicosia, Cyprus
Atlantis, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, UK
2004
Songs From Film Sung in the Cinema, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2002
Sunset Song, Art Pace, San Antonio, USA
Cast Together in ‘C´, Cork Mid Summer Festival, Cork, Ireland
2001
Victory, The International Language, Belfast, UK
2000
The Internationale, Manifesta 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1998
Filter, Resonate, Laganside Buscenter, Belfast, UK
1997
Red Shift, MacLoed Hall, Pierce Institute, Glasgow, UK
Metropola, Tesco Metro, Manchester, UK
1995
Two Part Harmony, Design Centre, Belfast, UK
Meltdown, The Glassworks, Derry, UK
Safe, Wilmont House,, Lady Dixon Park, Belfast, UK