Janet Cardiff: White Chapel Gallery in London

Artist Janet Cardiff creates audio walks that can be very intimate, intense, and evokative. She uses a technology that imitates the hearing of the human ear. In an interview with NPR radio, Cardiff explains, "When we're listening to the environment, we filter out probably 90% so that we don't hear the car pass or we don't even hear the brids. But, when we record sounds, everything gets excentuated." The three-level audio makes the experience seem so realistic, like you are really there.

Listening to the piece, you could almost imagine losing yourself in the sound of the nature and rythmic footsteps if it wasn't for Cardiff's continuous soft speaking. Some parts of the piece are a bit spooky, like when a man whispers to Cardiff and when Cardiff points out vague personal memories. By sharing her most intimate thoughts and experiences, the listener may feel as if Cardiff is actually there beside him or her. Some of the disturbing things she points out to the listener are a man hanging from a tree, someone following behind her in a dark park, and a dream that a man was following her and she wanted to shoot him.

Even as a listener not going on the giuded walk, the listener gets the sense that they are on a jounrney with Cardiff, wanderin through gardens, down the stars to a beach, through a park, and past houses. The experience is surpisingly calming most of the time, as walks normally are. The disturbing comments mentioned above are a little suprising, but they do not take away from the experience. This piece proves the power of an audio piece- it is able to engage the listener physically, emotionally, and mentally all at once.