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Janet Cardiff: Walking thru'
April 20–June 26, 2004 | TBA21, Vienna

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller

Janet Cardiff – The Forty Part Motet, 2001
A re-working of ‘Spem in Alium Nunquam habui’ by Thomas Tallis, 1575
Installation view : Atelierhaus der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, Space in Progress 2
Photo: Gerald Zugmann | TBA21

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller

Janet Cardiff

Himmelpfortgasse

On April 20, 2004 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary opened its first exhibition in Vienna and presented major installations representative of Janet Cardiff’s works: To Touch (1993), Hillclimbing (1999), The Forty Part Motet(2001), House Burning (2001), and Feedback (2004) as well as new collages. The major audio work The Forty Part Motetis was exhibited at the renown Semperdepot in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

Janet Cardiff’s work combines sound, movement and the environment. Her artworks, whether they are installations or walking pieces, are mainly audio based and integrate additional media including sound, film, video and photography.

“I am interested in how and to what extent hearing can influence our perception of the real world. We perceive our three-dimensional environment not only through our sense of sight but also through the nature of the sounds we hear. If these sounds are changed in some way, the effect on our perception of reality may be quite drastic. One might still be walking physically through a city and yet, through a manipulation of the sounds, have the feeling that one is in a forest.” – Janet Cardiff

With her audio-visual installations Janet Cardiff has taken an artistic direction which is not covered by the classical definition of either sound art or spatial installation. Not only does she mix media, she also operates in a way that is interdisciplinary and involves video, radio drama, performance, installation and sculpture. In her audio and video works the Canadian artist examines audiovisual perception as well as the viewer’s illusion. Her works indicate narrative themes while the three dimensional sound track allows the viewer to become part of the events and the surrounding space is transformed into a place of acoustic and visual projection.

location

Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Semperdepot, Akademie der bildenden Künste Vienna

duration

April 4–June 26, 2004

Download Exhibition Folder

publication

Janet Cardiff: The Walk Book
Edited by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna
Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln
Author: Mirjam Schaub
Texts by Janet Cardiff, Susie Allen, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Tom Eccles, Bruce Ferguson, Marnie Fleming, Gary Garrels, Donald Goodes, Ulrike Groos, Madeleine Grynsztejn, Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, Martin Janda, Kasper König, Markus Landert, Matthias Lilienthal, James Lingwood, Réal Lussier, Joel Mallin, Ivo Mesquita, Rochelle Steiner, Marika Wachtmeister, John Weber, Daniela Zyman

345 pages, 200 illustrations
English
Graphic design: Thees Dohrn, Philipp von Rohden / Zitromat, Berlin
ISBN: 3-88375-824-8

exhibitions sponsors

Hasenbichler Asset Management Art Gallery of Hamilton, Canada Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada

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