The Lower World

Scottish artist Susan Philipsz (1965, Glasgow), known for her installations exploring the sculptural and emotional dimensions of sound, has been invited to create a new work for Luxembourg’s Aquatunnel, aunique landmark of the city’s urban heritage. The 900-metre-long tunnel runs beneath the Ville Haute, connecting the Pétrusse Valley to the Pfaffenthal Quarter. Featuring the artist’s voice and playing through twelve speakers placed in different parts of the tunnel, the sound installation The Lower World evokes both the sound of civil defence sirens and the song of the Sirens, who, in Greek mythology, lured sailors to their deaths. ‘The separated voices will be arranged in such a way that the siren sound will in turn be melodic, melancholic, dissonant and haunting as it passes through the space: a current of sound that will appear to rise and fall, coming in waves. With this work, I mean to fill the Aquatunnel with sounds, working with the specificities of the space and encouraging visitors, through multiple associations, to think about their surroundings,’ observes the artist.