Art School Reject Wins Turner Prize With Old Folk Song

The prestigious Turner Prize for art has been awarded to Susan Philipsz, 44, an art school reject who specialises in sound art. The prize winner was announced at London's Tate Britain art gallery last night.

The £25,000 prize is the biggest accolade an artist under 50 can achieve in the British art world and sets winners up for life. Previous winners include Tracey Emin, who won the prize for her controversial 'Unmade Bed'.

Philipsz is a native of Glasgow and her main piece in the Turner Prize exhibition portfolio was Lowlands a haunting sound installation of the artists singing an old Scottish folk song. Philipsz recorded the song under three different Glasgow bridges over the River Clyde. The result is said to be haunting and beautiful and bookmakers had Philipsz as favourite to win the prize before the announcement last night.

Other work by Philipsz includes a piece called Filter where she sang NirvanaNirvana and Radiohead songs over the speaker systems to unsuspecting customers in a Tesco supermarket and a railway station.

What's more surprising is that Philipsz was actually rejected by Glasgow School of Art when she applied at age 23. Philipsz is married to photographer Eoghan McTigue, and they now live in Berlin.