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9/7/2011

Susan Philipsz

Ludwig Forum, Aachen

This summer the Scottish artist and Turner Prize winner, Susan Philipsz, transforms a visit to the Ludwig Forum into an intense and surprising sound experience. The exhibition, created especially for Aachen, is entitled “Seven Tears” and opens on July 10. Following the large-scale “Hyper Real” project, the all-encompassing work of Susan Philipsz will represent another high point in the Ludwig Forum’s anniversary year.

For the exhibition in Aachen, Susan Philipsz has brought together seven historical pieces of music from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. All of the pieces are sung by the artist a cappella. The theme of water plays an important role in the content of the work creating a close connection with Aachen, the city of hot springs. The interplay of the musical pieces follows a precise choreography and takes up the whole of the first floor of the Ludwig Forum, with a surface area of around 3,000 square meters. The core of the exhibition is the central hall, once the production area of the former Emil Brauer umbrella factory, built in the 1920s.

“Seven Tears” is related to a work that was presented on the streets of London at the end of last year. In the chosen locations, the six pieces from “Surround Me” evoked long-forgotten times with song and musical memories. For her project in Aachen, Susan Philipsz has arranged a seventh piece and interwoven it with the other six works. “The interplay of the pieces can be experienced physically and directly,” says Anna Sophia Schultz, curator at the Ludwig Forum.

In place of the abundance of images in the exhibition “Hyper Real—Art and American around 1970” one now experiences a pure abundance of sound. The act of listening and the altered perception of the extensive space become a central part of a visit to the Ludwig Forum. “Seven Tears” is also an important contribution to the rich variety of contemporary art presented at the Ludwig Forum.

In December 2010 the Scottish artist Susan Philipsz received the £25,000 Turner Prize. It was the first time in the history of the prize that the winning work could not be seen: Philipsz won over the jury with her sound installation “Lowlands.” The artist had originally created the work for her hometown of Glasgow: beneath three bridges in the city one could listen to one of three different versions of the traditional song “Lowlands Away.” The Turner Prize, named after the British landscape painter William Turner (1775–1851), has been awarded to a living artist in Great Britain since 1984. Previous winners include Gilbert & George, Damien Hirst and the German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

In recent years Susan Philipsz has presented her unique sound installations in many different location throughout the world. Her work has been shown for instance at Manifesta 3 in Ljubljana in 2000, in the Berlin Biennale 2006, and in the Sydney Biennale 2008. Her audio works take their inspiration either directly or indirectly from the location in which they are installed. Susan Philipsz’ songs and sounds quote musical, literary, and historical samples that stimulate subjective, but also collective memories and associations in the listener. Pop music and popular songs play as important a role as political songs, film music, and operatic arias.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive program of film, theater, readings, and music in the courtyard and garden of the Ludwig Forum. Guided tours along the thermal waterways will allow visitors to trace the hot springs in the Aachen cityscape, the extant spas, and active springs and offer an insight into the history of the city.

Image: Ludwig Forum Aachen/ Carl Brunn.

Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen
Jülicher Straße 97-109 - 52070 Aache
Opening hours: Tue–Fri 12–6pm, Thu 12–10pm, Sat–Sun 11am–6pm

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