Janet Cardiff's Forty Part Motet

on Wednesday i was transported from my mind and my body by Janet Cardiff's sound installation at the Cloisters, The Forty Part Motet.  if you live anywhere near NYC, or you are planning a visit before December 8th, you absolutely, positively must make the trip north to Fort Tryon Park (the 190th Street stop on the A train) to visit the Cloisters and experience this in person.  it has been years since i have been so moved, so uplifted, so changed and exhilarated by a work of art.  it is a transcendent experience.

i have provided a link to the Metropolitan Museum page about the exhibition and a link to a Vimeo sound clip.  but really, believe me, i implore you to go to the Cloisters and sit quietly in the Chapel, surrounded by forty small speakers, and hear this magnificence.  wander among the speakers and listen to individual voices.  sit in the center of the chapel and be overcome by all the voices as one.

i'll be returning often, and staying long.  after this exhibition has closed, i will wish for the rest of my life that i could hear it once again "live."

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/janet-cardiff

http://vimeo.com/74720972

(this image of Janet Cardiff was taken in 1991 by Don Lee
during a residency at Banff to create her early piece Forest Walk)