Janet Cardiff: The Forty-Part Motet, 2001. Installation view, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe
Courtesy the artists, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin and Luhring Augustine, New York
Janet Cardiff Education Resource Card
Artist’
sstatements
Artist biography
‘
In this piece I want the audience to be able to experience a piece of music from the view point of
the singers. I am interested in how sound may physically construct a space in a sculptural way and
how a viewer may choose a path through this physical yet virtual space. I placed the speakers
around the room in an oval so that the listener would be able to really feel the sculptural
construction of the piece by Tallis.
’
Janet Cardiff was born in Brussels, Ontario, Canada in 1957. In collaboration with
George Bures Miller (b. 1960) her partner, she has exhibited work in Canada,
Europe and the USA. In 2001 the couple represented Canada at the 49th Venice
Biennale. She currently lives and works between Berlin, Germany, and Grindrod,
BC, Canada. J
anetCar
di
f
f
’
sart can be roughly divided into three types: audio
walks, film-based pieces, and room installations.
www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/motet.html 1/21/2009
‘
Sound totally intrigued me because it was another world that was invisible but one I could transfer
peopl
et
o’
.
www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20040830_87083_87083
3/03/2009
‘
I real
l
yf
eel
s
oundphy
s
i
c
al
l
yandc
onc
ept
ual
l
ywhenI
’
mt
hi
nk
i
ngaboutmywor
k
:
Is
eei
tal
mos
tas
av
i
s
ual
el
ement
’
.
www.kultureflash.net/archive/50/priview.html
3/03/2009
Discussion questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What is art? Can sound be art?
What is sculpture? Can sound be sculpture?
Can sound be experienced as a physical force? How?
When you listen to this artwork what images come into your mind? Can you draw the
images?
When you listen to this artwork does it change the way you feel? How?
When you listen to this artwork does it trigger particular memories for you? What are they?
Do you like this artwork? What sounds and music do you like or dislike? Why?
Doy
out
hi
nkJ
anetCar
di
f
f
’
si
nt
er
es
ti
nmaki
ngs
oundi
nt
os
c
ul
pt
ur
ewor
ksi
nt
hi
ss
pac
e?
How has the sound become a sculpture? Does the sound feel physical to you? How?
If you had to describe this artwork to someone who could not hear –what would you say?
Activity ideas
1. Find out some facts about Thomas Tallis and listen to some of his music (try Youtube.com).
2. Visit a church or cathedral and listen to a choir singing.
3. Perform a whole class sound sculpture, by standing in a circle, singing a song, and inviting
someone to walk around the circle listening to each voice in the group. Record each voice
on a voice recorder or mobile phone, and play them back simultaneously.
4. Search the internet to find out about other artists who have made sound art and compare
howt
hei
rwor
ki
ss
i
mi
l
arordi
f
f
er
entt
oJ
anetCar
di
f
f
’
swor
k.(
Vi
s
i
tAndr
ewDr
ummond’
s
sculpture Listening and Viewing Device 1994, in Wellington’
sBotanic Garden.)
5. Discuss the different ways in which sound and waiata (song) are import
anti
nMāor
i
ar
t
sand
culture.
6. Construct sculptures that make sounds –try using found or recycled materials such as: tin
cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, card tubes, coins, stones, shells, sticks, etc.
Helpful Terms & Resources
The Forty-Part Motet (2001) by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff is an immersive
sculpturally-conceived sound piece, in which forty voices are played back
separately through forty speakers. This installation uses recordings of the Salisbury
Cathedral choir singing Spem in Alium Nunquam Habui (1573) by Thomas Tallis,
oneofEng
l
and’
smos
ti
nf
l
uent
i
al
Renai
s
s
anc
ec
ompos
er
s
.Cardiff recorded each
choir member individually, and began the recording before the choir started
singing, capturing sounds of coughs, feet shuffling and vocal preparations, which
she has included as part of the work. The piece plays on a repeated loop and lasts
14 minutes. Car
di
f
f
’
swor
kr
el
at
est
othe following art categories:
Sound art is a diverse group of art practices that encompasses ideas of sound,
listening and hearing. In sound art there are often relationships between visual and
aural elements.
Sound sculpture is an inter-media art form in which sculpture or any kind of art
object produces sound. This includes recorded sound, or sound made by kinetic
sculpture (Such as Flip and Two Twisters, 1977 by Len Lye).
Sound installation is a time-based and spatial art form. It is an expansion of an art
installation where sound is a key element and time becomes an important feature.
The main difference from a sound sculpture is that a sound installation has a three
dimensional space within which the different sounds or sound making objects are
organised. A work of art is an installation only if it responds directly to the
surrounding space.
Images: www.cardiffmiller.com The archive and documentation site of the
complete works from Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.
Sound & Video: www.youtube.com Various short video recordings of The Forty-Part
Motet,andex
ampl
esofc
hoi
r
ss
i
ng
i
ngT
homasTal
l
i
s
’
smus
i
c
al
c
ompos
i
t
i
ons
.
Books: Janet Cardiff: A Survey of Works, with George Bures Miller. By Carolyn
Christov-Bakargiev, et al. 2002. P.S.1. Contemporary Art Centre. USA.
ISBN-13: 978-0970442826. Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories. Alan
Licht, 2007. Rizzoli, New York, USA. ISBN –13: 978 –0847829699.
Education Resource Card written by Helen Lloyd, Educator at City Gallery Wellington, 2010.