Heather Phillipson Wants to Be a Shepherd

The UK-based artist answers the frieze questionnaire

BY Heather Phillipson in Questionnaires | 31 MAR 21

Heather Phillipson, RUPTURE NO 1: BLOWTORCHING THE BITTEN PEACH, 2021. Courtesy: the artist and Tate Britain, London — Heather Phillipson, *RUPTURE NO 1: BLOWTORCHING THE BITTEN PEACH*, 2021. Courtesy: the artist and Tate Britain, London

What was the first work of art you loved?

The Mannheim rocket that opens Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G Minor – composed in 1773 and still in the present tense.

What’s underrated?

The fact that horses used to be the size of small dogs.

What’s the most important work of art you’ve encountered lately?

The 200 or more woolly mammoth skeletons that were unearthed at an airport construction site near Mexico City in 2020, like an installation from the beyond.

What surprises people about you?

I would like to be a shepherd.

What do you like to do when you’re alone?

Reinvent myself as an amateur podium dancer.

Who do you miss?

All the mammals who were palpably bigger than me when I was a mammalian rookie.

This article first appeared in frieze issue 218.

HEATHER PHILLIPSON

Heather Phillipson’s sculpture THE END, for the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London, UK, was unveiled in 2020. She will present new installations at the 13th Shanghai Biennale, China (until 18 July), and the British Art Show 9 (10 July–4 September 2022). RUPTURE NO 1: BLOWTORCHING THE BITTEN PEACH, her commission for the Duveen Galleries, Tate Britain, London, is on view until 10 October