In Sam Taylor-Johnson’s video installation Sigh, the BBC Concert Orchestra plays a piece of music without instruments. The composition was specially written for this purpose by British composer Anne Dudley. The only sound produced by the conductor is a sigh. All other sounds come from the orchestra – if they would actually have played their instruments.
13 March to 1 June 2024
In the video installation Sigh, you see different sections of an orchestra spread across eight screens. Although you can hear the musicians playing, you see them in the video images without their instruments. They are dressed in their everyday outfits and play their imaginary violins and horns like mimes. At the same time, you see their focus on the conductor and the tight movements of their bodies as they passionately play their invisible instruments.
Since the 1990s, British artist Sam Taylor-Johnson has been exploring, isolating and presenting human emotions in her photographs and video installations. She is also known as director of films such as Nowhere Boy (2009), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and Back to Black (2024).
Header image: Sam Taylor-Johnson, Sigh, 2008, collection museum Voorlinden