Ceal Floyer (1968–2025)

“I‘ll just keep on … ‘Til I get it right.”

British-Pakistani conceptual artist Ceal Floyer has died in Berlin at the age of just 57.

Precise reduction to minimal gestures, playful work with language and literal meaning, and a sensitive exploration of presence and absence were—and remain—the defining characteristics of her artistic work. The reenactment of her Nail Biting Performance (2001/2012) at the opening of documenta 13 was as physically intense as it was multisensory: immediately before the press conference, she stepped into the spotlight alone at the Kongress Palais and presented a performance that literally translated the title, as a kind of overture to the upcoming event. Amplified by the hall’s loudspeakers, the proverbial nail biting, synonymous with danger and tension, became an haunting soundscape.

Floyer’s second contribution to Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev’s documenta 13 also addressed vulnerability and the possibility of failure. The sound installation ‘Til I Get It Right (2005) developed into a catchy tune for many visitors on the ground floor of the Fridericianum during the course of the exhibition: Floyer used the chorus of the classic song of the same name by Tammy Wynette from 1972, removed the words “falling in love” from the soundtrack, and combined the fragments sung in a silky voice, “I’ll just keep on / ‘til I get it right,” into a minimalist endless loop with maximum effect. Freed from romantic content, the words, which oscillate between melancholy and longing, are transformed into an openly interpretable metaphor for Sisyphean efforts.

Ceal Floyer studied at Goldsmiths College in London. In 2007, she received the National Gallery Prize for Young Art in Berlin, and in 2009, she was awarded the Nam June Paik Art Center Prize in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In addition to numerous group and solo exhibitions, her works have been shown at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and Manifesta 11 in Zurich (2016), among others.