Summary
Hymn is a video that runs for nearly five minutes. It was produced in an edition of ten with one artist's proof. Tate's copy is number six in the edition. The video is played continuously on a loop and displayed as a large projection so that the image fills the gallery wall. On rare occasions, within a particular context or combination of works, the artist has shown Hymn on a monitor. It forms the second part of the Talking in Tongues trilogy which also includes Angel 1997 (Tate T07394) and Prometheus 1999 (Tate T07742). Each video explores the theme of religion and features Wallinger in the guise of a character called Blind Faith, identifiable by his dark glasses, white shirt and black tie. He is seen in a different situation singing or reciting a text drawn from classical or popular literature. Wallinger has referred to this figure as 'an actor, a puppet, a hollow man', who never speaks 'anything that has not already been written.' (Quoted in Vischer, p.26… (read more)
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