The artists’ most ambitious sound installation to date transforms vast drill hall into immersive soundscape
From Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, The Murder of Crows is Presented by Park Avenue Armory in Association with the Mostly Mozart Festival
Artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller animate Park Avenue Armory’s cavernous drill hall this August with a dream-like soundscape that envelops audiences in a poetic and visceral sonic experience. In its U.S. premiere, The Murder of Crows continues Cardiff & Miller’s exploration of physical and sculptural attributes of sound in their largest sound installation to date, transforming the Armory’s 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall into an immersive environment where sound alone creates vivid imagery and narrative structure. Created in collaboration with Freida Abtan, Tilman Ritter, and Titus Maderlechner, the three-part, 30-minute composition weaves together a fluttering of voices, music, and sounds to construct a captivating and confounding melodrama that investigates concepts of desire, intimacy, love, and loss.
On view from August 3 through September 9, 2012, The Murder of Crows was co-commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and is presented by the Armory in association with the Mostly Mozart Festival. The installation at the Armory is complemented by special programming presented in conjunction with the Mostly Mozart Festival: “The Music of Birds,” a panel discussion moderated by John Schaefer, and a performance by the International Contemporary Ensemble, who will perform works by John Cage, Olivier Messiaen, and world premiere works by Marcos Balter and Suzanne Farrin. Both events will be held on Sunday, August 12, in the Armory’s first floor historic rooms.
“Janet and George have a keen ability to create narrative and conjure up imagery through the movement of abstract sound. The Murder of Crows draws audiences into a surreal world populated with wondrous and disquieting characters,” said Rebecca Robertson, President and Executive Producer of Park Avenue Armory. “Visitors to the Armory will be subsumed into this work which, like an instrument tuned for the space, transforms the drill hall into an enthralling auditory world.”
Three of Janet Cardiff’s dreams serve as the basis for The Murder of Crows, which is structured like a play or a film but with imagery generated only by voice, music, and sound effects. Created using special binaural recording techniques, the installation transports the audience across time and space through the evocative and sometimes disorienting use of sound. Ninety-eight speakers mounted on stands, chairs, and walls throughout the drill hall give voice to the various scenes and characters in this enigmatic composition—from crashing waves to a marching band to the hubbub of a factory floor. Emanating from a gramophone speaker at the center of the installation, Cardiff’s detached voice recounts a series of disturbing dreams—providing an armature for the work.
The gramophone speaker is a visual trope drawn from Francisco Goya’s “Los Caprichos” series of acquatints from 1897 and 1898, whose unsettling images created in response to the political and social upheaval of the time served as inspiration for the installation. The title of the work The Murder of Crows refers to the English term for a flock of crows, who, by coincidence, have been used in literature and visual arts to represent harbingers of death. In addition, the title references the strange natural occurrence known as a “crow funeral,” in which a multitude of crows surround the body of a dead crow and caw, seemingly in mourning, for over 24 hours.
Public Programs
Aural Imagining
Sunday, August 5 & Saturday, August 11: 10am – 12pm
Reflect on the line between dreams and reality while exploring the power of your own imagination in this interactive workshop created and facilitated by Armory Teaching Artists before becoming immersed in the sonic world of the installation.
Suggested for families with children ages 10 and up. Reservations are required and may be made by emailing artseducation@armoryonpark.org.
There is a $5.00 materials fee for this event.
“The Music of Birds” Panel Discussion
Sunday, August 12 – 3:30 pm
As part of the Mostly Mozart Festival, WNYC’s “Soundcheck” host, John Schaefer, moderates a discussion with ornithologist Susan Elbin, and music historian Rachel Mundy on the many inspirations between the songs of birds and the world of new and classical music. This panel discussion is free of charge and will take place in the Colonel’s Room at Park Avenue Armory.
International Contemporary Ensemble “For the Birds”
Sunday, August 12 – 5pm
As part of the Mostly Mozart Festival, the International Contemporary Ensemble will perform a program titled “For the Birds” in Park Avenue Armory’s historic rooms, featuring John Cage’s Telephones and Birds,/i>, the world premieres of Suzanne Farrin’s Serenade and Marcos Balter’s Passará, as well as Messiaen’s Chant dans le style Mozart, among others.
Tickets may be purchased at www.mostlymozart.org. Ticket buyers for this event will be allowed to tour The Murder of Crows free of charge after the performance.
Hours
Tuesdays – Sundays: 12:00pm – 7:00pm
Thursdays: 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Monday, September 3 (Labor Day): 12:00pm – 7:00pm
Closed all other Mondays
On Sunday, August 12, the installation will close at 3pm for a performance by the International Contemporary Ensemble as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival.
Admission
$12 General Admission
$10 Students (with ID), Seniors (65+), Groups (8 or more)
FREE: Saturday, August 4
FREE Park Avenue Armory Members
FREE: Children 10 and under
Location
643 Park Avenue (at 67th Street), New York City
For more information, please visit the following link:
Park Avenue Armory website
Media Contacts:
Juliet Sorce / Molly Kurzius
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
212-671-5158 /212-671-5163
jsorce@resnicowschroeder.com
mkurzius@resnicowschroeder.com