:::雪梨雙年展 part 1:::

＠Sydney Opera House & MCA... 2008.9.1

http://www.bos2008.com/app/biennale

16th Biennale of Sydney
Australia's Festival of Contemporary Art
18 June ~ 7 September 2008

雙年展場地主要分為三大區：
1. 雪梨歌劇院、當代美術館、pier 2/3
2. 新南威爾斯美術館、Artspace、皇家植物園
3. Cockatoo Island 鸚鵡島

趕在這週 前往參觀即將要結束的雪梨雙年展
首先在天氣好的9/1 先去了歌劇院一區
歌劇院搭配好天氣 既溫暖又美麗

當代美術館和2/3碼頭均不收門票
在美術館裡 像是在教室般的充滿智識
也像在公園般的自在...

看起來像是國中生的學生們不只是看作品
在老師的帶領下 似乎正討論著藝術與哲理..
也看到啟智孩子們觀賞著作品
帶他們的老師們非常有耐心地指導著...
不少帶著小小孩來看作品的父母
推著嬰兒車 這裡似乎正是全家約會的地方..

2/3碼頭有三件作品... 其中一件的力道十足..
讓我不禁坐足了30分鐘 傾耳聆聽～
這件作品是聲音裝置 "The Murder of Crows"

Janet Cardiff
Born 1957 in Brussels, Ontario, Canada

George Bures Miller
Born 1960 in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada

The Murder of Crows
A sound installation

Since the 1990s, the experimental art of Canadians Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller has been a fascinating exploration of how sound affects and shapes our experience. World-premiering at the 2008 Biennale is their largest installation to date, The Murder of Crows – an astounding 100-speaker artwork that envelops the viewer/listener in the experience of the sculptural and physical qualities of sound. The large and cavernous space of Pier 2/3 is filled with speakers mounted on stands, chairs and walls, creating a minimalist ‘flock’. The installation is structured like a play or film, but with images created only by voice, music and sound effects. Inspired by Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters – from the series of etchings called ‘Caprichos’ (c. 1799), which was a denunciation of the evils of society in Spain in his day – the artists have placed a lone megaphone horn on a table in the middle of the space. Out of this horn comes Cardiff’s voice reciting dreams and thoughts as if, like Goya’s sleeper, she is absorbed in her own nightmares. Using multiple soundscapes, as well as compositions by Freida Abtan, Tilman Ritter and Titus Maderlechner, the artists create a ‘sound play’ that physically envelops the listener in a moving field of sound and music. Morphing in a dreamlike way from war marches to lullabies, the piece is a requiem to today’s battered world.

(This artwork has a 30-minute duration. Seating provided.)

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Murder of Crows, 2008, sound and mixed-media installation with audio speakers, amplifiers, computer, electronics, miscellaneous media, 30 mins, installation view in 16th Biennale of Sydney 2008 at Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay
Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, for the 2008 Biennale of Sydney. The installation in Sydney was made possible with the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Biennale of Sydney and Bowers & Wilkins Speakers.
Courtesy the artists; Luhring Augustine, New York; and Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin. The presentation of this work in Sydney is also made possible with the generous support of Andrew and Cathy Cameron

雪梨雙年展遊記 ～未完待續～