Susan Philipsz @ BALTIC, Gateshead

For this exhibition Susan Philipsz is staging the presentation of her new work, A Single Voice 2017.  It is an adaptation of Karl-Birger Blomdahl’s opera Aniara 1959.  The narrative follows a group of colonists who leave a doomed planet Earth behind to set up a new life on Mars.  An accident occurs during their journey and the passengers of the craft are left to float eternally in space.  In Philipsz’ installation, a large film projection combined with the sculptural arrangement of 12 speakers act as an intimate meditation on themes of distances, separation and isolation.
The exhibition also includes Ziggy Stardust 2001, a haunting a cappella rendition of David Bowie’s extraordinary 1972 studio album.