Murder of Crows in Kiasma, Helsinki. Photograph by Petri Virtanen.
Murder of Crows at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Photo by Detlef Fiedler.
Murder of Crows at the 16th Biennale of Sydney. Photo by Anna Maderlechner.
Murder of Crows in Kiasma, Helsinki. Photograph by Petri Virtanen.
Murder of Crows at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Photo by Detlef Fiedler.
Murder of Crows at the 16th Biennale of Sydney. Photo by Anna Maderlechner.
Medium:
Mixed media installation
Duration:
30 min.
Dimensions:
Variable
Sponsor:
Curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev for the 16th Biennale of Sydney.
The installation was made possible with the generous support of Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Freunde Guter Musik e.V. Berlin, The Canada Council, and Bowers & Wilkins Speakers.
Cardiff & Miller
This large installation, ‘The Murder of Crows’, continues Cardiff Miller’s explorations in creating sculptural and physical sound. Ninety-eight audio speakers are mounted around the space on stands, chairs and the wall creating a minimalist flocking of speakers. The structure of the piece tries to mirror that of the illogical but connected juxtapositions that we experience in the dream world. One soundscape moves into another with an electronic dreamscape composition shifting into sound effects such as factory noises, crashing waves or birds wings and then into a guitar and strings composition then into a choir sequence and marching band.
The title for the installation is ‘The Murder of Crows’, which means a grouping of crows. Sometimes when a crow dies, many other crows flock to the area around the dead bird and caw for over 24 hours, creating a ‘crow funeral’. The title also provides a thematic entry into the installation; a basis to create a work that becomes a metaphor for our political situation today.
Another central theme for the piece is Goya’s “Sleep of Reason Brings False Monsters” from the etching series “Los Caprichos.” In this particular one Goya shows a man asleep, his head resting on his folded arms. Owls and bats fly menacingly around his head; at his feet, a lynx sits motionless, alert and staring.
At the centre of our installation there is one physical element that echoes Goya’s etching, a small desk with a megaphone speaker lying on its side. Janet’s voice comes out of the speaker occasionally, telling a sequence of dreams. The sounds and music in Cardiff Miller’s work act like the owls and bats that envelope the sleeping man in Goya’s etching. Janet’s voice, like Goya’s dreamer is helpless to escape from her apocalyptic dreams.