Divided Self is the title of a retrospective exhibition at the Kunsthaus Biel Centre d'Art Bienne in Switzerland. Susan Hiller, born in the United States in 1940, moved to London in 1970, where she passed away in 2019. Throughout her half-century career, she delved into themes like automatic writing, dreams, postcards, TV programs, magic, and encounters with extraterrestrials, among other cultural phenomena. Hiller's approach was driven by a quest to challenge the perceived objectivity of scientific neutrality. As an artist in a male-dominated society, she paid particular attention to the experiences of social minorities and non-Western cultures, highlighting how these groups are often marginalized into realms of subjectivity and emotion, deemed less significant. She focused on subjects that are often overlooked, viewing them not as distant curiosities but as lived experiences. Hiller's work champions subjectivity as a form of knowledge, allowing herself to be influenced by each cultural artifact she encountered, resulting in a diverse body of work that resists the notion of a singular, stable identity or universal truth. Her exhibitions do not follow a chronological order but are organized to reflect various ongoing themes throughout her career.
Susan Hiller: Divided Self / Retrospective at Kunsthaus Biel / Centre d'art Bienne. Biel/Bienne (Switzerland), February 15, 2025.
