Janet Cardiff

A few years ago, I was working in Sheffield, England, where life was simple and uneventful. It was a mining town, where remnants of catastrophic explosions of the mining era still graced the streets of this newly developed city. In my dingy hotel room, I kept myself occupied with books and writing in order to kill time.

During the weekend, my roommate and I would wonder around town in search of adventures and entertainment. We had several successful finds, but nothing spectacular. One night we stumbled upon a karaoke bar that reminded us of an adventure one would find in the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. There were laughters, caddiness, joyful singing, drag queens belting to all the gay anthems popular around the world. Love their accents though. But by the end of the night, they gathered around to dedicate a song to a local friend who recently left the planet while tears flowing endlessly down their cheeks. It was a heartbreaking moment that made an impression on me.

During this night, I happened to engage in a conversation with a nice young english fellow who recommended an exhibition of Janet Cardiff's installation of the 40 part motet of Thomas Tallis's "Spem in Alium". The next day I found myself at the exhibit and was changed by the whole experience. It was 8 minutes of pure bliss and confusion. The installation was so magical that I wrote to all my friends and told them about the experience. The installation is now at MOMA, so I am once again recommending it to you lovely people to go experience it. I hope it will touch you the way it touched me, but if it doesn't I hope you will enjoy it regardless. My brief description on the installation is to purposely uncolor your expectation. Please let me know what you thought about the piece if you do decide to go.