WASSENAAR.- Museum Voorlinden is presenting the video installation ‘Sigh’ (2008) by British artist Sam Taylor-Johnson (1967). This work has rarely been shown and is one of Voorlinden’s highlights, among which are works by Richard Serra, James Turrell, and Roni Horn; artworks that are impossible to describe, and need to be experienced.

Since the 1990s, the photographs and video installations of British artist Sam Taylor-Johnson have explored the rawest human emotions. These are isolated and presented in fragmented ways by either deconstructing the narrative or, as in her work ‘Sigh’ (2008), altering our perception of image and sound. ‘Sigh’ is an audiovisual installation of eight projections in which different sections of the BBC Concert Orchestra seem to be playing the musical piece written specifically for this work by renowned composer Anne Dudley. Although the music is clearly audible, the musicians are not playing their instruments. Like mimes, they play imaginary violins and invisible flutes. Without their instruments, the musicians are somewhat vulnerable, while the importance of the bodily movement in playing an instrument is simultaneously accentuated.

The collection of Museum Voorlinden includes multiple works by Taylor-Johnson, ‘Sigh’ being a key work within her oeuvre. It was shown in the Netherlands once before, during the collection presentation ‘I promise to love you’ at the Kunsthal Rotterdam in 2011. This work was the public favorite, and was received by the press in like manner: “a spectacular musical intermezzo”, wrote Henny de Lange in Dutch newspaper Trouw. ‘Sigh’ can be seen from December 16th 2016 until February 26th 2017.

In 2009, Sam Taylor-Johnson made her debut as a director with the film ‘Nowhere Boy’. She has been known by the general public as the director of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ since its release in 2015.