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“Guadelupe” Susan Philipsz The sound work, with the illustrious name “Guadelupe,” records the background noise at a bus terminal in Texas. Guadelupe is a small town in Arizona, the destination of someone who, as a matter of fact, is already stuck at the bus terminal. A kitsch instrumental version of the famous blues song “I’m so lonely, I could cry” by Hank Williams is audible in the background. Later on, a voice is joining in this song, and a woman inquires after Guadelupe. Susan Philipsz creates a scenario of the situation of being a foreigner in a foreign country. To her, the frustration of the language barrier, the feeling of disorientation and of constantly moving in a circle joins with the tawdry waltz in the bus terminal. The refrain “I’m so lonely, I could cry” underscores this. The individual singing voice constitutes a sharp contrast to the synthetic sound of the voice. Although this song has been played a million times, this person lays claim on it and links it to personal experiences. Susan Philipsz’s works hinge on this point of friction between a sound of mass-production and personal experiences and remembrances that are attached to precisely this sound. At the same time, the tone of the word “Guadelupe” evokes a yearning for places with exotic names, the hunt for experiences or a good life. In the case of Guadelupe, Arizona, the homophony with the island paradise Guadeloupe is helpful. However, even the former is out of reach. Artist, born 1965, lives and works in Belfast and Berlin. |
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