Close-up: Louise and Jane Wilson

The art world's most famous twins are making waves with their new show

(Martin Usbourne)

The Wilson twins began their artistic careers with murder. When these identical sisters created their degree shows, they submitted nearly identical works – photographs in which they appear to be doing each other in, one by drowning, the other with a noose. Eighteen years on, they're very much alive, and established as two of Britain's leading video artists. The twin thing, though, is something they try hard to downplay: "A lot of artists work collaboratively," says Jane. "No one works in isolation. We've made a particular choice to work collaboratively and it's not something we're too conflicted with."

The 41-year-old artists were part of the YBA crowd who emerged from Goldsmiths in the early-1990s, and rose to fame with a nomination for the Turner Prize in 1999. Last year, they were selected to create a one-off piece to inaugurate Derby's art and film centre, Quad. Louise is delighted that the art world has a new home in the East Midlands: "When we were starting out, there wasn't much choice about where to work; it was either London or Glasgow."

The inspiration for their film and 3-D installation Spiteful of Dream came from visiting Derby's Bosnia & Herzegovina refugee centre. "We recorded stories of dislocation to create a soundscape where voices often overlap and interrupt each other," explains Louise.

To emphasise the physical aspect of a journey, the sisters filmed in transport factories around Derby. Scale is key to the Wilsons' work and with this piece the viewer is immersed in a darkened room, surrounded by images of factory floors and washed over by waves of dislocated voices. "We've never worked with voices before, but we don't think of ourselves as film-makers; we're artists," says Jane firmly. "We're there to make a big impact."

For more on Quad: www.derbyquad.co.uk