Susan Philipsz (GB, 1965) has been called a sound architect. As a starting point for her installations she usually uses existing music and pieces that are connected with the history and stories of a location. With her own arrangements, Philipsz explores the emotional and spatial dimension of sound. Using sound recordings, mainly of her own voice, she creates immersive environments that heighten the listener’s awareness and temporarily alter their perception of themselves in a particular place and time. Her sound works have been seen and heard in numerous places. From remote places such as alleys and forests to public spaces, such as on a platform at the Documenta in Kassel, under the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam and recently an abandoned swimming pool in Bonn.

Philipsz studied sculpture at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and completed a Masters in Fine Art at the University of Ulster. Her work has been exhibited in numerous places worldwide since. Some examples: the Melbourne International Biennial in 1999, Manifesta 3 in Ljubljana in 2000, the Tirana Biennial in 2001, the Tate Triennial of British Art in 2003 and the 16th Biennale of Sydney in 2008. In 2010 she received a commission to make a work for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 2013, work by Philipsz was included in ‘Soundings: A Contemporary Score’, the first-ever major exhibition of sound art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She won the Turner Prize in 2010. This was the first time the prestigious award was given to a sound work.