thu 28/03/2024

A Turner Prize first for sound artist | reviews, news & interviews

A Turner Prize first for sound artist

A Turner Prize first for sound artist

Susan Philipsz is the first sound artist to win the Turner Prize

Dexter Dalwood appeared to be an early favourite, while many wished Angela de la Cruz, who had suffered a debilitating stroke five years ago, a deserved comeback triumph (though the artist who makes evocative “sculpture/paintings” of crumpled canvases did win the prestigious £35,000 Paul Hamlyn Award last month). Few, apart from this reviewer, appeared to be backing the Otolith Group. But in the end, it was 45-year-old Glaswegian artist Susan Philipsz, with recordings of three different versions of a traditional Scottish ballad, who bagged the Turner Prize last night.

Dexter Dalwood appeared to be an early favourite, while many wished Angela de la Cruz, who had suffered a debilitating stroke five years ago, a deserved comeback triumph (though the artist who makes evocative “sculpture/paintings” of crumpled canvases did win the prestigious £35,000 Paul Hamlyn Award last month). Few, apart from this reviewer, appeared to be backing the Otolith Group. But in the end, it was 45-year-old Glaswegian artist Susan Philipsz, with recordings of three different versions of a traditional Scottish ballad, who bagged the Turner Prize last night.

Philipsz's work plays easily on the ears and the emotions, but it lacks the necessary traction for an enduring work of art

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Otolith Group are the only winners - their work is brilliant and complex and reflect the politics of the moment. Philipz is for me utterly bad - so bad its shocking. what on earth were the jurors thinking

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