Janet Cardiff (Canadian, born 1957--) Whispering Room, 1991 multimedia installation, 16 audio speakers mounted on metal stands, 16 audio sources, film projection © 2001 Janet Cardiff Purchased with the financial support of The Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and with the assistance of the E. Wallace Fund, 1998.
Janet Cardiff: Whispering Room
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
Whispering Room, 1991, is an early example of exploring narrative structure. It is composed of both audio and film elements, underscoring the shifting ground upon which our concepts of meaning and reality rest. Each of the 16 speakers in this reinstallation plays a different segment of a narrative. The parts come together according to the path that the visitor takes from speaker to speaker. At intervals triggered by the viewer’s movement, an image is projected onto the wall. The gentle murmur of the voices imbues the work with a dream-like quality that is reinforced by the slowed-down speed of the film.
Purchased with the financial support of The Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and with the assistance of the E. Wallace Fund, 1998.