Slog - Comments on Currently Hanging http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162 Janet Cardiff's The Forty Part Motet (A Re-working of Spem in Alium Nunquam Habui 1573, by Thomas Tallis) (2001); 40 loudspeakers mounted on stands, placed in an oval, amplifiers, and playback computer; 14-minute loop with 11 minutes of music and 3 minutes of intermission. At Tacoma Art Museum. (Museum web site here.) This photograph, courtesy of Tacoma Art Museum, is incredibly inadequate—not because of anything having to do with the photographer, but because this is a sound installation. There is a single voice coming out of every single one of those black, figure-like speakers, set in a circle as... Copyright 2008 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:00:00 -0800 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:46:57 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf Somebody forgot to close their teeny-font tag and now all of Slog is micro.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080371 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080371 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:21:09 -0800 Comment by SRSLY Close your tags girl- You done shrunk the Slog!

]]> SRSLY http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080372 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080372 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:22:40 -0800 Comment by max solomon yet she did go back into the world shortly after saying that. it was possible because she never left it.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080376 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080376 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:29:15 -0800 Comment by susan halpern I was fortunate enough to "see" an exhibit by Janet Cardiff at the Carnegie in Pittsburgh some years ago. It was amazing.

]]> susan halpern http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080386 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080386 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:37:52 -0800 Comment by HULK HULK SMASH TINY SLOG

]]> HULK http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080388 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080388 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:39:11 -0800 Comment by Fnarf I saw an almost identical (looking) exhibit at the Tate Liverpool in 2003. Same setup -- many loudspeakers on stands around a room, voice tape loop. I wonder if that was Janet Cardiff as well. Hmm, it looks like it was: http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/janetcardiff/

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080392 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080392 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:41:46 -0800 Comment by Balt-O-Matt What a lovely story.

]]> Balt-O-Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080395 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080395 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:47:31 -0800 Comment by Fnarf FIX YOUR TAG, MIZ GRAVES.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080432 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080432 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:10:47 -0800 Comment by Fnarf No, I changed my mind, I like Slog shrunk. Put it back.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080448 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080448 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:18:16 -0800 Comment by stinkbug How old is philip glass' "music for parabolas" setup? A bunch of speakers in a loose circle pointed towards each other (er, I guess actually away from each other since the speakers were pointed at the parabolas).

]]> stinkbug http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080469 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080469 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:32:04 -0800 Comment by east coaster This piece has been making the rounds. Last I checked, it was on permanent install at MOMA, with its own room. I made a special pilgrimage last year.

The aural experience is really similar to what you'd get if you were actually singing the piece, which is an amazing thing to be able to extend to the public. It's not just that each speaker carries a single voice, it's that each speaker carries a single perspective -- the nearest singer's voice loudest, with the singers close around them next, the whole piece next and the room noise after that.

So glad this work is getting even more exposure. (BTW, this is the second recent SLOG reference to this particular piece of music. Someone else recently linked to a Terry Pratchett article where he talks about believing in God and hearing Spem in Alium for the first time.)

]]> east coaster http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080564 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080564 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:21:18 -0800 Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball “I can’t possibly go back to the world now”

My god Graves, I thought you were going to tell us the old lady fell over dead then. Whew!

I really love the fact you are describing the art now, and sharing a critical viewpoint I know you to have. I might even haul my ass -- which is rapidly fusing to the upholstery of this chair -- to Tacoma for this.

My only question about your writing: what is a unified audience? While a chorus is a generally unified entity, don't audiences assemble with all manner of motivations, backgrounds, reactions, etc? Don't some people read their Blackberries while others listen? Don't some sleep? Just wondering...

@6, the Tate WHAT?!?!?!? With all those craven thieves in that city, I'm sure they have the world's most sophisticated alarm system.

]]> Jubilation T. Cornball http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080686 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080686 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:11:19 -0800 Comment by Jared The use of "unified" perplexes me a little as well. The origins of this piece seem to strike out against the unity found in the voices and experiences of other choral works of the time, and I'm not sure why it's such a novelty she capitalizes on this.

However, I would really like to see the piece. Every time I've seen work by Cardiff and/or Miller I've at least been intrigued. More often than not I've been a little turned off by the gimmick, but there has always been enough there to justify the trek out.

]]> Jared http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080750 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080750 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:39:51 -0800 Comment by Dr. Jimmy Pete Townshend devised a speaker system along these lines for some string synthesizer pieces he was writing and recording - in 1982.

5 gets you 10 that most people doing this stuff now know all about that (either on their own, or from somebody else who did.)

]]> Dr. Jimmy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080865 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080865 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:48:39 -0800 Comment by k this was at the edmonton art gallery in 2004; totally worth the drive down to tacoma.

]]> k http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080908 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080908 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:14:15 -0800 Comment by Fnarf @12, the Tate Liverpool is one of the top modern art museums in the world. And, unlike the museums in Manchester, there are actually people visiting them. Liverpool is a charming city, full of the loveliest people in the world. True, you want to keep a sharp lookout at all times. But your average Scallie isn't really about defeating complicated alarms; they're more the smash-and-grab sort. And, you know, you can get fantastic deals on gently-used car stereos there.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080930 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1080930 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:35:53 -0800 Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball @16, And they've mastered the fine art of dipping into all the bins for all manner of things. I'm surprised they haven't stolen the Mersey itself!

Now, if it's a museum you're wanting...http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={3B206E90-CB32-403F-BC82-DEBB730837FE}§ion=museum

See you there, fnarf! I'll buy you a pressie in the gift shop :-)

]]> Jubilation T. Cornball http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1081021 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1081021 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:33:44 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Please imagine the sound of vomiting, Jube.

There is a lovely museum not far from there called The Lowry, though. I'll grant you that. Manchester's far from all bad, whatever my Scouser friends may think. They even have an attractive local football club. They play in light blue.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1081052 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1081052 Visual Art Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:07:09 -0800 Comment by Christopher Howard I have seen this installation at both P.S.1 and MoMA. The work is indeed one of the most powerful, moving, and emotional experiences I've had in a museum.

]]> Christopher Howard http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1083831 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/currently_hanging_162#c1083831 Visual Art Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:46:57 -0800