Janet Cardiff

As part of the Hirshhorn’s ongoing "Directions" series, the museum has commissioned a new artwork by Janet Cardiff (b. 1957), a Canadian-born artist known for her inventive use of binaural sound technology. Cardiff has developed a 33-minute multisensory audio walk artwork, "Words drawn in water," in which the artist’s layered sound effects merge to evoke a blending of history and memory. The audio walk debuts Aug. 3 and will continue through Oct. 30. The audio walk is free and available Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 2:30 pm Last dispatch is 2:30 p.m. "Directions—Janet Cardiff" offers visitors an interactive means to consider an array of ideas and experiences while contemplating the legacy of the National Mall. This artwork also will become a dynamic addition to the Hirshhorn’s collection.

To begin the walk, visitors will start out individually from the Hirshhorn's lobby with an Apple iPod shuffle that delivers audio directions instructing them where to walk. Led by an anonymous narrator-which is interspersed among enhanced recordings of ambient sounds, a cappella music, excerpts from historic speeches and snippets of interviews with individuals who recount their Washington, DC, experiences-participants will pass through the Hirshhorn plaza and Sculpture Garden, along the National Mall and through other Smithsonian museums. Cardiff's voice-over also includes instructions and references to specific artworks, buildings and vistas as visitors approach them on the predetermined route. The work is designed to be an individual experience. A drivers license or passport is required in exchange for the temporary loan of the equipment. Visitors should allow one hour to complete the audio walk. The artist has designed this work specifically for adults as a solo experience. Priority will be given to those who wish to participate in the work as intended by the artist.

Cardiff’s first audio walk artwork was developed in 1991 during a residency at the Banff Center for the Arts in Alberta. She inadvertently turned on a tape recorder and felt estranged from the persona projected by her own voice. Since then, she has used narration as a means to create an intimate connection to her audience. According to organizing curator Kelly Gordon, "In many of Cardiff’s works, her soothing whisper is off set by sound effects so vivid, so subtle, so three-dimensional that they challenge participants to distinguish what is and is not 'real.'"

The artist has created audio walks in cities including Florence, Italy; London; San Francisco and New York. Cardiff holds a bachelor’s degree from Queens University, Ontario, Canada, and a master’s degree from the University of Alberta, Edmonton Alberta, Canada. She has had numerous solo exhibitions and a retrospective at P.S.1. MOMA in 2001.

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Directions:
Janet Cardiff