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Image Not Available for The Two Sisters
The Two Sisters
Image Not Available for The Two Sisters

The Two Sisters

Artist (Glasgow, Scotland, born 1965)
Date2009
Mediumtwo and three channel sound installation
ClassificationsInstallations
Dimensionsvariable
AcquisitionPurchased in 2011 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions and the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland.
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG017421
About Me'The Two Sisters' is a two and three channel sound installation, which tells the story of a drowning and touches on themes of repetition, loss and mourning. In 2010, Artist Susan Philipsz won the Turner Prize for 'Lowlands', which was originally commissioned for Glasgow International, achieving widespread critical acclaim. She describes 'Two Sisters' as the sister piece to that work.

The ballad 'The Wind and the Rain' has been around for hundreds of years and it is still sung today. It has its origins in Scotland and Ireland and was published as The 'Twa Sisters' in Jamieson's Popular Ballads in 1656. The song has many versions but its essence remains the same. The story is one of sororicide, where one sister drowns the other in a jealous rage. The river carries the drowned body until a fiddler comes across the remains. He fashions the bones and hair into a fiddle but the fiddle can only play 'The Wind and the Rain'.

Two versions of the song play from two speakers simultaneously. While one version is sung in the third person, a second version is sung in the first person, as if taking the persona of the drowned sister. The second and fourth lines of each verse are identical, so while the different versions diverge and overlap, they come back together at the refrain. A third element comprises a recording of a violin bow being played across single strings. The sound has a haunting quality and makes reference to the rudimentary fiddle, made from the remains of the drowned sister. These recordings are played from three corners of the gallery space in a continuous loop so that after the song is finished, there is a silence and then the work begins again.