Susan Philipsz
dal 27/11/2009 al 8/1/2010
Segnalato da
27/11/2009
Susan Philipsz
Ellen de Bruijne, Amsterdam
'The Two Sisters' is specially made for Ellen de Bruijne Projects, and consist of a two channel sound installation with voice and a part with surround sound with violins in two rooms. The story of The Two Sisters, touches on themes of repetition, loss and memory. The story is one of sororicide, where one sister drowns the other in a jealous rage. The river carries her drowned body until a fiddler comes across her remains.
The Two Sisters is specially made for Ellen de Bruijne Projects, and consist of a two channel sound installation with voice and a part with surround sound with violins in two rooms. The story of The Two Sisters, touches on themes of repetition, loss and memory.
The ballad The Wind and the Rain has been around for hundreds of years and it is still sung today. It has its origins in Scotland and Ireland and was published as The Twa Sisters in Jamieson's Popular Ballads in 1656. The song has many versions but its essence remains the same. The story is one of sororicide, where one sister drowns the other in a jealous rage. The river carries her drowned body until a fiddler comes across her remains. Her bones and hair are fashioned into a fiddle but the fiddle can only play one song, The Wind and the Rain. In some extended versions of the song the fiddle incriminates the first sister; accusing her by reperforming the ballad.
The Two Sisters sound installation will play two versions of the song from two separate speakers simultaneously. While one version is sung in the third person the second version is sung in the first person, as if taking on the figure of the drowned sister. The two voices overlap doubling the song in the space. The second and fourth lines of each verse are identical so while the different versions merge and get lost in each other they come back together at the refrain. The song is accompanied by a violin piece as a surround installation. The notes of the violin are taken from the song, and function as an ongoing echo. After the songs are finished there is a short silence and the work begins again.
Susan Philipsz
Was born in Glasgow 1965, studied Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee and completed her MA in Fine Art in Belfast. She now lives and works in Berlin. She was awarded the PS1 International studio programme in New York (2000), the Kunst-Werke residency in Berlin (2002) and the International Artist Programme at Art Pace, San Antonio (2003). She participated in Manifesta 3, Ljubljana (2000), The Turin Triennale (2005), Berlin Biennale (2005), Skulptur Projekte Münster (2007), Carnegie International and Sydney Biennial (2008), and this year (2009) she had shows at The Walker, the Hirschhorn Museum and MMA Oxford, which is still running. Susan Philipsz is represented - next to edbprojects - by Isabella Bortolozzi Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar New York. Next year she is preparing a project for the Guggenheim New York, and Glasgow International 2010 o/a.
Opening Saturday 28 November 17-19 h
Ellen de Bruijne Projects
Rozengracht 207 A Amsterdam
Gallery hours: Tu - Fri. 11 - 18 h / Sat 13 - 18 h / 1st sun of the month 14 - 17 h
free admission