Susan Philipsz Announced As Turner Prize Winner

Glasgow-born, Berlin-based artist Susan Philipsz has been named the winner of the 2011 Turner Prize. Philipsz is the fourth woman and her work is the first sound art installation to win the award. Creating renewed controversy over the definition of art, Phillipsz's sound (rather than visual) based Lowlands features the artist singing a 16th century Scottish lament song called "Lowlands Away."

This is not the first (nor will it likely be the last) controversial work awarded the prize. Previous winners include Rachel Whiteread's cast House, Damien Hirst's bisected cow and calf in vitrines of formaldehyde for Mother and Child, Divided, Tracy Emin's soiled Bed and Martin Creed's playing with gallery lights in The Lights Going On and Off. Named after the famous British Romantic painter J. M. W. Turner, the Prize began in 1984 to support contemporary British art and is awarded annually to an artist under the age of 50.

What do you think of the winning project? Do you think someone else should have won the prize? Share your thoughts below!