Sigh, Sam Taylor Wood at Museo Guggenheim, Bilbao

Watching Sigh feels absurd, mesmerising. It was the stand-out work for me at the Guggenheim this weekend.

The film is shown on a number of screens arranged in a circle, so the viewer stands surrounded by the different sections of the BBC Concert Orchestra. We can hear a piece of music, specially written for this work and inspired by one of Taylor-Wood's earlier pieces. The BBC Concert Orchestra are playing, without their instruments. The members of the orchestra are dressed in ordinary clothes (no concert-black) in what looks like a warehouse space. They are stern, absorbed in their playing. They mime the in-between gestures, the taking on and off of parts, the relaxing/limbering up of the mouth. Some forget to hold their instruments when they're not playing, their hands resting open on their knees. It's a beautiful collusion between 'serious professionals' and seems like magic at times, the drummer mimes a sound and it appears.

Here is a short video of San Taylor-Wood talking about the work, with some clips of the work itself. Here is a link to the write-up on the Guggenheim's site.

Thomas Bayrle thoughts from Ice Cream, Phiadon

When did it start?

'It started early. Gottfreid Semper's phrase "All construction comes from weaving" really bowled me over. All of a sudden the material / canvas in front of me was more than just a textured, flat, woven surface. Now this texture was a relief, a three-dimensional flat sculpture. Long before I'd heard these words, I'd been amazed by the repetitive ups and downs rendering the most delicate single thread into a firm, integrated collective structure. The body, an atlas, linen etc were all fabrics, the sight of which would trigger images in me of endless cityscapes, in which I could and would live myself. Materially these fine structures also provided an acoustic connection to the great big lilting 'sing song' which was even more important for me: the rosary, the rhythmic time signature of railway sleepers, Steve Reich and the beat of heavy diesel engines.'

Thomas Baryle, questioned by The Wrong Gallery.
Ice Cream Contemporary Art in Culture, Phiadon Press Ltd 2007