Susan Philipsz

'She studied sculpture at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and it's this discipline that informs her work today. Her songs, she says, are "sound sculptures". Each one – whether played in a gallery, under a bridge or over the Tannoy in a Manchester Tesco Metro – is designed to make her audience alter their response to each particular space. "It's all about how the emotive and psychological effects of sound can heighten your awareness of the space you are in," she says. "It felt like a very natural progression to go from sculpture to sound."

The fact that her singing voice isn't anything special is crucial. "Everyone can identify with a human voice," she says. "I think hearing an unaccompanied voice, especially an untrained one, even if it's singing a song you don't know, can trigger some really powerful memories and associations. If I'd gone to music school and had proper training, I would not be doing what I do today." (Corner, 2016)

Corner, L. (2016). The art of noise: 'sculptor in sound' Susan Philipsz. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/nov/14/susan-philipsz-turner-prize-2010-sculptor-in-sound [Accessed 12 Dec. 2016].