Susan Philipsz Wins Birmingham Big Art Project with £2M Sound Clock

Susan Philipsz, the Scottish artist born in 1965, has won the Birmingham Big Art Project, a competition to create a public artwork for Birmingham. The project raised £2 million through community contributions, public funding, and private sponsors, including £80,000 from Arts Council England. Philipsz beat four other finalists: Brian Griffiths, Heather & Ivan Morison, Keith Wilson, and Roger Hiorns. Her winning proposal is an enormous speaking clock installed inside the city's high-speed train station. The clock will replace hour numbers with musical notes, generating 1,000 different sound combinations each hour, echoing the voices of passengers. The sounds will intensify during peak hours and become more harmonious at night. The jury included Michaela Crimmin, Lisa Le Feuvre, Sally Shaw, Toby Watley, and Beverley Nielsen.