One Collective Breath: Janet Cardiff's 'The Forty Part Motet' | KQED Arts

Canadian artist Janet Cardiff’s "The Forty Part Motet," is deceptively simple in appearance: a spare room occupied solely with a ring of black speakers on stands. But once the first collective breath of the virtual choir begins, and the forty part harmonies of Thomas Tallis’s masterful choral work ripple throughout the gallery, the “mind-boggling” complexity of her sound sculpture becomes apparent.
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[@user-bv6rb6vq7d]

Experienced this amazing work in Raleigh, NC. Took my mom, and we both were moved to tears while listening. I have never had a physical response like that to a work of art before. It was deeply moving in ways I still do not understand.

[@sanjayrsinghalra5606]

I was truly fortunate to experience this at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris; I stood in the centre of the space, listening to the sound of the voices, and I felt that I was no longer of this earth, but of a place far removed, lifted above the clouds, where I could glimpse the sun, rising among the stars.

[@BenWeeks-ca]

This is a wonderful piece. I had the pleasure of experiencing it many times in Toronto. It was amazing to see how it visibly affected people. Immediately there was a deep emotional resonance for many.

[@billmcdonald4123]

amazing to have connected with this treasure at the reconstructed Rideau Chapel, National Gallery, Ottawa.

[@freeman31z]

I've just seen and eard this piece of art this afternoon in Paris. This is one of the most exciting and inspiring experience I ever had...

[@fanter6760]

I remember coming and seeing this at our art museum and I constantly cried listening to it.

[@fatovamingus]

me too. even now

[@user-bv6rb6vq7d]

Same@@fatovamingus

[@fuferito]

I was fortunate to see it twice on two separate occasions.
The first time was at the National Gallery, in Ottawa, for the Caravaggio exhibit. The second in Toronto, a few years after.
An eternal moment each time.

[@marywilliams7187]

Goose bumps, tears and joyous laughter at the beauty!

[@Eiger6]

It's beautiful to experience. I was at the National Gallery today, where they have this set up in the Rideau Chapel.

[@kendalkimsor]

I experienced it in 2020 in Bremen Germany unforgettable ❤

[@Nick-Gye]

I saw this at Inhotim (Brazil) in July. Fantastic

[@Helicochem]

Just marvelous and an outstanding emotional experience. Seen and heard in a church in Salzburg, Austria. Thank you for this gorgeous installation !

[@lunietaresende1960]

Simplesmente lindo, tive a oportunidade de estar no Inhotim/BH e viver esse momento transcendental.

[@MrsLoveJoyFun]

Woow GORGEOUS

[@DrDrea-wj6su]

Can't wait for this piece at the Nelson Atkins in November!

[@DisOneIsCool]

I experienced this at the North Carolina Museum of Art on July 20, 2018

[@tparbs]

Oh, I'd love to experience this!!

[@robotichivemind]

It was absolutely gorgeous. I was able to experience it at MoMA P.S. 1 in Queens. Stayed there for over an hour in that one exhibit.

[@pv0309m]

Una marea es fascinante por su multiplicidad de formas, colores y sonidos. El viento es una sensación indescriptible, porque nos envuelve por todos los lados. Caminar en un bosque es una experiencia única, porque nos ahoga el verde en todas sus formas y con sus insinuantes susurros y este concepto, complejidad, ha sido llevada a la música, transformándola y potenciando su impacto emocional. Un experimento y técnica, que lleva la música a la fuerte omnipresencia de la misma naturaleza, haciéndola melodía y cambiando radicalmente nuestra percepción de lo que significa escuchar.

[@laurargriffith9284]

Would love to see this

[@dooganjones6090]

'the “mind-boggling” complexity of her sound sculpture' is nothing compared to the mind boggling complexity of Tallis's composition, and the exquisite choral singers which, btw what are THEIR names, or were those subsumed by the speakers being wired together and set on stands by Cardiff?

[@squidmeister2000]

Stunning at Tate Modern Tank

[@janecarroll5728]

I first experienced this installation in The Baltic in Newcastle quite a few years ago. I have always remembered just how moving it was. Each time I play Spem in Alium I'm taken back to that time and have the same emotional response as I had then. Wonderful!

[@marialette1]

Same here. I went there waiting for the outcome of a last attempt to remove a tumor from my brother, on the Continent. I needed to be elsewhere, and that was exactly where that installation in the Baltic took me.
Such liberating relief. Cathartic. Many tears were wept.
The operation worked; he got 12 months extra.

[@imaginaryuniverse632]

Did I miss the one collective breath?

[@terrypickett7547]

A choral The Rapidity of Sleep.

[@daniell_Carr]

This exhibition is now on Monterrey México, when I was on the museum, the choir was so deep, it just feels like if you were in front of real People, I could imagine that speakers will replace humans un the future, but think about that is quite sad

[@jacobgoodner4922]

How does the video gloss over the fact that she listened in on a child using the restroom. Bizarre.

[@G.B.P.]

It’s not your work of art, Janet. Playing a song on a speaker doesn’t make you an artist.

[@marialette1]

To have the vision to make this mindboggling piece accessible in such wondrous fashion, makes her an artist indeed.

[@G.B.P.]

@@marialette1 nah