Sculpture in the 21st century

The award of the Turner Prize this year went to Susan Philipsz. Trained as a sculptor, she has taken the concept of sculpture as an art-form a long way - from even 50 years ago. Alberto Giacometti's sculptures are one of the most valuable artworks in the market right now, but it would arguably have been difficult for him to imagine sculpture leaning to the direction by Philipsz.

Susan Philipsz next to her exhibition "Lowlands Away" - 'singing as a sculptural experience'

Her concept of 'sound sculpture' is interesting in its absence of tangibility - essentially you can sculpt with sound. A bare room with speakers on a few walls. This concept of art as visual nothingness - is an area I do not profess to know much about, but in my mind represents an awkward direction in the investigation of the limits of art and how it can be represented. As with traditional sculpture, where the contours of a statue would be carefully carved, sound waves similarly shape the room with echoes and by responding to their physical surroudings.
Poetry can be found in the transmission of sound, just as colour and form represent the tools to illustrate the natural rhythm and harmony within a painting.