Hanne Lippard
Look for Words

Artist
Hanne Lippard

Title
Look for Words

Year of creation
2024

Technology and dimension
7-channel Audio file, reflective flooring, lighting system, dimensions variable, audio for about 20 min.

Year of acquisition
2024

Acquired by FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie and Riller & Schnauck.

Hanne Lippard uses her own voice in two sound works that not only use language as a medium, but also examine its structure. “Look for Words” (2024) is a twenty-minute, repeating sound piece from seven speakers on a reflective floor. The text written by the artist is continually taken apart and reassembled, constantly changing its meaning. It begins with the artist as the first-person narrator, who, over the course of the text, dissolves into several blurring egos and questions grammatical rules. The sculpture “Stele” (2024) consists of a loudspeaker with integrated light and is reminiscent of ancient, upright stone tablets or columns with inscriptions. Lippard's "stele" does not communicate through engraved text, but rather translates the written word into continuous murmurs, and the luminous surface embodies the sound.

Hanne Lippard (*1984 in Milton Keynes, Great Britain, lives in Berlin) explores the voice as a medium in her practice. Her training in graphic design is partly responsible for how effective her visual use of language is. Her lyrics are visual, rhythmic and performative rather than purely informative. Lippard conveys it in a variety of disciplines, primarily through sound installations and performances.