Susan Philipsz wins the Turner Prize but we remember Glengall Bus Station Belfast!
Chuffed to bits for Susan PhilipszÌýwinning the Turner Prize 2010. Her win has created the usual "is this art" annual debate around the prize. She's the first sound installation artist to win,ÌýusingÌýher singing voice to create sound installations in .
But while the national press are full of her Turner win, she actually had her first ever sound installation in Glengall Street bus station in Belfast.ÌýI just spoke to her friend and fellow artist/musician who remembers theÌýGlengall Street bus station installation!ÌýHer singing would come over the tannoy system, punctuatingÌýthe bus arrivals and departures notices. He also remembers putting her up in his house in London when she came over to do a similar installation in a Tesco in Bethnal Green.ÌýAnd back here,Ìýhe collaborated with her on a one off record, in which she recorded herself singingÌý"As Tears go by" in an alcove of the , and he got it pressed in a one off 7" record where the record now lives and can be played.
I'm chuffed too for Susan because I write this blog not just as a Northern Ireland basedÌýarts journalist interested in Philipsz time here, (University of Ulster Masters of Fine Art, director of Catalyst Arts Belfast ) but as a proud big sister.ÌýMy brother, James Kerr, gave SusanÌýher first ever solo show in the Context Gallery in Derry in 2000.
So it only seems right that Derry should be the first place outside of London to host the Turner prize. In 2013 the plans areÌýthat the site of the former Ebrington Barracks willÌýhost the work of the competitors and prize giving ceremony.
ButÌýa word of warning, if you are passing the Curfew Tower in Cushendall and thought you would drop in and listen to Susan's rendition of "As Tears go by", apparently Bill's son broke the Dansette record player last summer. And he hasn't got round to getting it fixed yet!
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