SUSAN PHILIPSZ
Scottish, born 1965
The Shallow Sea
2010
Sound installation; 1:15 min. recording,
followed by 8:00 min. of silence
According to the BMA, “Instead of making a painting or sculpture, Susan Philipsz records the sound of her own voice in order to express her ideas and encourage museum visitors to enter into a contemplative state of mind. The artist sings songs from a wide variety of genres, including religious, folk, pop, and punk. Although Oh willow waly (the song heard in The Shallow Sea) seems to be a traditional love ballad, it was actually composed for ‘The Innocents,’ a 1961 film adaptation of Henry James’s (1843–1916) ‘The Turn of the Screw,’ which told the story of two children who are haunted by the ghosts of deceased lovers.”
“I have been fascinated by the way that Susan Philipsz’s work conveys great emotion and haunting stories purely through the sound of the artist’s voice,” says Curator of Contemporary Art Kristen Hileman. “It’s important for a museum to collect works that rethink what art can be and pose questions for visitors. This piece certainly does that. There are no objects made by the artist to look at, rather through the power of her voice and the words she sings, Philipsz gets us to visualize a moving situation in our minds and to look at the architectural context in which we experience the work in new ways. Her art prompts us to find additional mystery and meaning in the world around us. In the Contemporary Wing, we have sited this sound installation so it can be heard while standing in the rotunda of the building and looking through the building’s wall of windows to the outside. It sensitizes us to the drama in art, as well as the drama within life, and makes a vital bridge between the art we encounter in the museum and what we encounter elsewhere in our lives.”
