reclaimed space features live cello emerging and merging with its processed accompaniment.  The piece was written by composer Freida Abtan from materials generated in improvisation workshops with cellist Meaghan Burke and is part of a series of works exploring how the unique physical gestures of improvisers are embedded within their playing as well as the tension inherent in mimesis.

reclaimed space is the fourth movement of My Heart is a River, a large-scale multimedia work commissioned by the Seattle Symphony for cellist Seth Parker Woods (2023). A ten screen version with live performer premiered in the Octave 9 surround audiovisual concert hall. This stand-alone version without live performer highlights the tight audiovisual relationship between the music and the video.

My Heart is a River addresses themes of identity and transformation. reclaimed space specifically represents evolving memory and the pain of childhood rejection. The music features spectral processes which suggest a partial degradation. The video features improvised performances by Seth Parker Woods, Aloria Adams, and Giada Jiang.

My Heart is a River (2023) was created with generous support from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Art Research and Creation Fund and the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art on the Frontier.

Mantis Festival, Manchester (UPCOMING)

floating down features live cello emerging and merging with it’s processed cello accompaniment.  The piece was written by composer Freida Abtan from materials generated in improvisation workshops with cellist Simon Cummings and is part of a series of works exploring how the unique physical gestures of improvisers are embedded within their playing as well as the tension inherent in mimesis.

floating down is the sixth movement from My Heart is a River (2023), a large-scale multimedia work commissioned by the Seattle Symphony for cellist Seth Parker Woods. A ten screen version with live performer premiered in the Octave 9 surround audiovisual concert hall. This stand-alone version without live performer highlights the tight audiovisual relationship between the music and the video.

My Heart is a River addresses themes of identity and transformation. floating down specifically represents the death of a parent and the fragmentation of memory. The music features spectral processes which suggest a sticky, tactile quality. The video features improvised performances by Seth Parker Woods and Ausar Stewart.

My Heart is a River (2023) was created with generous support from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Art Research and Creation Fund and the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art on the Frontier.

Sonic Matter Festival  2023, Zurich, Switzerland, Nov 30 – Dec 3^rd, 2023 (UPCOMING)

MusLab 2023 International Electroacoustic Music Festival, Guayaquil, Ecuador, Oct 5^th 2023 (UPCOMING)

Festival Escalatrónica, Universidad Nacional de Lanús, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sept 20th, 2023 (UPCOMING)

La Hora Acusmática 2023, Cordoba, Argentina, Sept 15^th, 2023 (UPCOMING)

CHIGIANA Radioarte Festival: A Parola, http://www.chigianaradioarte.it, 24 hours, July 21^st 2023

spilling upwards features live cello emerging and merging with it’s processed cello accompaniment.  The piece was written by composer Freida Abtan from materials generated in improvisation workshops with cellist Simon Cummings and is part of a series of works exploring how the unique physical gestures of improvisers are embedded within their playing as well as the tension inherent in mimesis.

spilling upwards is the fifth movement from My Heart is a River (2023), a large-scale multimedia work commissioned by the Seattle Symphony for cellist Seth Parker Woods.

New York City Electro-Acoustic Music Festival 2023, NYC, NY, USA, June 23^rd 2023

floating down features live cello emerging and merging with it’s processed cello accompaniment.  The piece was written by composer Freida Abtan from materials generated in improvisation workshops with cellist Simon Cummings and is part of a series of works exploring how the unique physical gestures of improvisers are embedded within their playing as well as the tension inherent in mimesis.

floating down is the sixth movement from My Heart is a River (2023), a large-scale multimedia work commissioned by the Seattle Symphony for cellist Seth Parker Woods.

New York City Electro-Acoustic Music Festival 2023, NYC, NY, USA, June 23^rd 2023

Act 1:
i) Opening out
ii) Seeping in

Act 2:
iii) Abandoned structures
iv) Reclaimed space

Act 3:
v) Spilling upwards
vi) Floating down

In Memory of Nessim and Raphael Abtan

My Heart is a River is a 45-minute immersive performance for cello and surround audiovisual media, written by Freida Abtan for Seth Parker Woods. Narratively, it investigates those moments where subjective identity must be reformed. The first act is inspired by Abtan’s family story of immigration and the experience of one’s culture being judged through another. The second examines childhood obsession and rejection. The third: familial acceptance and the death of a parent. Each movement uses unique, related, aural and visual processes in its aesthetic and is a self-contained vignette depicted as a dream originating from the cellist’s instrument.

The music for My Heart is a River uses spectral processing to transform the sounds of the cello into physical materials such as water and skipping rocks. In performance, Woods plays in tight synchronization with the pre-recorded audio and visual accompaniment. The video features his physical performance as well as ones by Tamzin O’Garro, Aloria Adams, Giada Jiang, and Ausar Stewart and situates his body within its depicted narrative.

The piece was originally a commission from the Seattle Symphony for its 2020 season, where it premiered in the opening season of the Octave 9 surround audiovisual concert hall. It was extended to 46 minutes for another performance in 2023. For both productions, the sound and video surrounded the audience using an eighty-channel acoustic diffusion system as well as ten projection screens placed in an extended horseshow configuration. The production’s immersive media choreography must be tailored according to the differing projection capabilities of each performance venue. For the audience, small differences in proximity, orientation, or visual obstruction have a profound effect on what dominates their experience.

The audio and visual material for the piece was created through physical and musical improvisation workshops conducted between Seth Woods and Freida Abtan, as well as cellists Meaghan Burke and Simon Cummings. Recordings from those workshops became the source material for Freida Abtan to process and manipulate and the resulting electronic music was then scored back for Seth Woods to play live, embedded within a musical landscape in which his playing already features.

My Heart is a River was created with generous support from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Art Research and Creation Fund and the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art on the Frontier.

Octave 9 Concert Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, USA, February 24^th 2023

she’s swinging her hammer was published as part of the Navel Gazers III compilation. The piece was originally composed in 2010 as part of the soundtrack for Abtan’s hour long, surround multimedia, production Fear of Flight. It was previously unreleased. This version is significantly updated from the original.

Liner Notes for Navel Gazers III

This compilation, artwork and notes below were produced by Andrew Ciccone for Navel Gazers: blog.navelgazers.co.uk

All tracks mastered by Martin Clarke except where indicated.

***

The Navel-Gazers blog celebrates three years with the belated ‘Navel Gazing’ compilation Volume III, featuring new and unheard sounds from legends and pioneers in the world of experimental music and sound recording. What’s on Volume III? Well there’s a big band, some radio static, bit of whispering, doors creaking, and a whole panoply of other sounds which simply defy description. Yes, just like our monthly interview series, it’s all over the place! Just as preferred…

All proceeds from Navel-Gazing will be donated to the Mind charity for mental health which is a cause that is interesting and important to me. You don’t need me to tell you what Mind does, you can read all about them: www.mind.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/

Freida Abtan. “she’s swinging her hammer”, Track 3 on Navel-Gazing III. Bandcamp.com. February 3rd, 2023, FLAC, AIF, WAV, MP3, < https://navelgazers.bandcamp.com/album/navel-gazing-iii>.

Flight of Birds (redux) an HD audiovisual composition extracted from a much earlier 35 min version. The piece draws on notions of anima and the realm of the spirit. The imagery is inspired by traditional Yoruban mythology in which a woman’s spirit may leave her body to travel outside in the form of a bird. Here, a woman longs for flight, staring into a birdcage for the mysteries within. We see her dressed as a bird, dancing, unfolding, but never quite leaving the ground. Darker, winged creatures haunt the air around her. Eventually, she is transformed. She visits the sky, not as a bird, but as a constellation.

Flight of Birds explores strategies to abstract movement and form through surface and temporal manipulation, as well as the defining sensory relationship that exists between sound and image in time-based composition. The piece takes a loose stance on audiovisual association, attempting to match aural and visual material through pace and suggestion rather than clearly defined gesture.

The original footage in Flight of Birds features Audrey Ellis Fox and Bonnie Johnson.

Unbound A/V Art: Redefining the Undefined, Streaming on VUCAVU.com Nov 29^th – Dec 4^th, 2022

The paper discusses Abtan’s 2020 version of My Heart is a River, a production featuring cellist Seth Parker Woods that investigates the intersection of narrative, audiovisual composition, and instrumental performance. It was published in the proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (2022) where it was presented alongside a screening of the piece’s documentation.

Abstract:

My Heart is a River is a twelve-minute immersive performance featuring cello and surround audiovisual media, written by Freida Abtan for Seth Parker Woods. The piece integrates the presence of the performer on stage with that of his representation in the projected scenography and musical accompaniment. It uses synchresis to create gestures within the audiovisual composition that direct the attention of the audience around the performance space.  The author discusses the piece’s creation process, constructed affect, and challenges to stage. She notes that the live cellist’s performance is colored by attributes from the surrounding media in which he is featured producing a kind of ghost affect between his different representations within the narrative.

Freida Abtan. “My Heart is a River: Ghost Affect Between Audiovisual Composition and Instrumental Performance.” In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2022, Limerick, Ireland.  Michigan Publishing Services, 2022.

FluCoMa Learn Podcasts are an intermittent series of interviews with artists discussing their work using and experimenting with machine learning and machine listening. Jacob Hart discusses art and technology with creative coder and educator Freida Abtan in the first episode of the series, FluCoMa Podcast #1. The podcast was published on March 3rd, 2022 and is 52 minutes long.

Jacob Hart, “Flucome Podcast #1.” In: Learn.Flucoma,  March 2^nd, 2022, <https://learn.flucoma.org/explore/abtan/>. VIDEO.

Navel Gazers is an online music resource founded by Andrew Ciccone, in which he features interviews with different musicians who have influenced his own musical output. Ciccone interviewed Abtan for the February 2022 issue (Navel Gazers #28). The interview is over 5000 words is focused on Abtan’s first album, Subtle Movements, released in 2007 on United Dairies / Jnana Records.

Andrew Ciccone, “Freida Abtan: Subtle Movements.” In: Navel Gazers. Feb 14^th, 2022, <https://blog.navelgazers.co.uk/2022/02/freida-abtan-subtle-movements.html>.

The paper documents the inclusive design strategies Abtan and Alessandrini employed during a commissioned project for ShareMusic & Performing Arts, an organization that works for artistic development and inclusion in the arts in Sweden.

Mondgewächse (2014) is a piece where traditional instruments meet arts technology. It is a collaboration between international renowned composer Patricia Alessandrini, Video artist and mose-en-scène Freida Abtan, and Share Music Sweden.

The piece explores the transformation of the relationship between performer and instrument. It was performed by ensemble Gageego! from Gothenburg and the In:fluence Ensemble from Share Music.

The In:fluence ensemble features performers with various disabilities. For this performance, custom electronic controllers were designed for the members of this ensemble to use, as was real-time video software that responded to and magnified the physical performance on stage.

Abstract:

Mondegewächse is a ShareMusic & Performing Arts production created by the authors in 2014. This demo will draw from the instruments, interfaces, and interactive situations developed for the Mondegewächse project in order to propose a collaborative methodology for the development of audiovisual mappings, with the core goal of creating an expressive and engaging experience for users with different abilities. A primary feature of this methodology is the fluidity of roles and functions in the decision-making process, such that the binaries of user/designer and creator/performer are blurred. This is in keeping with ShareMusic’s inclusive practice of producing cutting-edge productions in which amateur workshop participants and ensemble members perform alongside established musical ensembles and other professional performing artists. The presentation will feature both video documentation of the Mondegewächse production and a demo illustrating the mapping strategies for one instrument in particular, the ‘mouth-organ’, developed in collaboration with long-time ShareMusic associate and performer Peter Larsson, in consultation with Clarence Adoo MBE, founding member of the Paraorchestra, as well as case studies of other instruments, interfaces and interactive computer vision situations designed for this project.

Patricia Alessandrini, Freida Abtan. “Mondgewächse: A Collaborative Methodology For Audiovisual Mappings in Inclusive Instrument Design.” In: Proceedings of the New Interfaces for Musical Expression Conference 2020, Birmingham, UK.  July 2020.

i) Opening out
ii) Seeping in
In memory of Nessim and Raphael Abtan.

My Heart is a River is a piece for video, live cello and pre-processed musical accompaniment written for Seth Woods by Freida Abtan. Narratively, the piece traces the borders between dreams and identity that collapse within the process of immigration. A cello player begins to perform, and dreams emerge from his instrument. In these, he toasts a friend and together they plan an adventure. After sailing through rough waters riding the cello like a boat, the two friends reach their destination: a star filled expanse where their bodies mirror movement against an invisible barrier.

The music for My Heart is a River uses spectral processing to transform the sounds of the cello into physical materials such as water and skipping rocks. In performance, Woods plays in tight synchronization with the pre-recorded audio and visual accompaniment. The video features physical performance by both himself and Tamzin O’Garro and situates his body within its depicted narrative.

The piece was a commission from the Seattle Symphony for its 2020 season, where it premiered in the Octave 9 surround audiovisual concert hall. For the Octave 9 performance, both the sound and video surrounded the audience using an eighty-channel acoustic diffusion system as well as ten projection screens placed in an extended horseshow configuration. The production’s immersive media choreography must be tailored according to the differing projection capabilities of each performance venue.

The audio and visual material for the piece was created through physical and musical improvisation workshops conducted between Seth Woods and Freida Abtan. Recordings from those workshops became the source material for Freida Abtan to process and manipulate and the resulting electronic music was then scored back for Seth Woods to play live, embedded within a musical landscape in which his playing already features.

Difficult Grace, Jacobs Music Center, San Diego CA, November 28^th 2023 

Difficult Grace, Harris Theatre, Chicago, USA, April 20^th 2023 

Difficult Grace, UCLA Center for the Art of Performance, Los Angeles, USA, Dec 4^th, 2022 

Difficult Grace, Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City, USA, Nov 19^th, 2022

Difficult Grace, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth University, Dartmouth, USA, June 25^th, 2022

Difficult Grace, Harbourfront Center, Toronto, Canada, March 10^th, 2022

Difficult Grace, Performing Arts and Humanities Building, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA, March 1^st, 2022

Difficult Grace, Lippes Concert Hall, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, USA, Nov 12^th, 2021

Difficult Grace, Time:Spans Festival, Mary Flagler Cary Hall, New York City, USA, Aug 26^th, 2021 

Difficult Grace, Octave 9 Concert Hall at Benroya Hall, Seattle, USA, Jan 9^th, 2020

Fear of Flight: Expanded Presence and Inter-sensory Gesture in Multimedia Performance is a short paper introducing the titular piece and explaining its theoretical concerns. The paper was presented at the Media Arts History Conference (2018) themed on Sound Art. It was adapted from the much longer dissertation of the same name published by Abtan through Brown University in 2013.

Abstract:

Fear of Flight investigates the intersection of surround audiovisual composition and live performance to draw meaningful conclusions about the experience of presence and the role of the performer within immersive media composition. Among the theoretical issues that contributed to Fear of Flight ’s development are the impact of immersion on the perception of compositional dialog, and the mechanisms by which presence may be expanded and dislocated from a performing body through mediation.

Freida Abtan, “Fear of Flight: Expanded Presence and Inter-sensory Gesture in Multimedia Performance.” In: Proceedings of Re:Sound 2019, 8th International Conference on Media Art, Science, and Technology, Aalborg, Denmark, August 2019. DOI:10.14236/ewic/RESOUND19.36.

This video documents a presentation given at the Audio Developer Conference 2018 by Dr. Freida Abtan of Goldsmiths, University of London. The video is curated on the popular Audio Developer Conference and JUCE youtube channels.

In this presentation, the author discusses possible relationships between artistic production and software development with examples from her own practice. She then examines multiple modes of modern electronic music practice to suggest a shifting taxonomy of music software.

“Examining the Relationship Between Art Practice and Technology” In: JUCE: ADC 18. Nov 27th, 2018, <https://youtu.be/sWnu7TK0PSk>. VIDEO.

The video documents a lecture given as part of the Sound Arts Visiting Practitioners Series Autumn 2018 at the London College of Communication (LCC). The series of visiting speakers is co-hosted by LCC’s department of Sound Arts and Design and UAL’s research center for Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice and curated by Dr John Wynne. The video is published on the series’ youtube channel.

In this presentation, Dr. Freida Abtan discusses her inter-disciplinary composition practice and its reflexive relationship with computational strategies.

“Visiting Practitioner: Freida Abtan.” In: LCC B.A. Sound Arts and Design. <https://youtu.be/bH0JGrAIBjc>, Oct 18^th 2018. VIDEO.

Bot Party in an interactive sound experience for humans. The bots have a problem. They have no way to communicate with their friends. Can you help? They need you to touch another human holding a bot. Through you the bots use the proprietary bot to skin to skin to bot communication protocol (BSSB) to send encoded secret messages to each other. Hold hands with other players to get the bot sound spectacular started!

Game Design by Phoenix Perry and Freida Abtan. Sound Design by Brian Jackson. Bot Development and AI Diplomatic Relations by Charlie Ann Page. Engineering by Phoenix Perry & Helen Steer. Jr Developer, Emily Roderick. Graphic Design by Mimi Sotudeh. Magic by Helen Steer.

NYCResistor, New York City, April 19^th 2019

Alt.Ctrl.GDC, Games Developer Conference, San Francisco, USA, March 19^th-23^rd 2018

KiKK Festival, Namur, Belgium, Nov 2^nd– 4^th 2017

IndieCade Games Festival, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California, Oct 6^th-8^th 2017Now Play This Games Festival, Somerset House, London, UK, April 7^th-9^th 2017

Where is She? Finding the Women in Electronic Music was written based on thoughts generated during a panel discussion featuring Abtan and five other female academics in audio technology at the New Interfaces for Musical Expression Conference in 2014. The piece was published in a special issue of the Contemporary Music Review centered on women in audio technology.

Abstract:

The author discusses the visibility and participation of women in electronic music culture. She argues that most electronic music social networks privilege male inclusion and success, and that skill-sharing is an important strategy to encourage women in the field. To seed this discussion, the author examines her own history with reflections on the gender dynamics within electronic music communities outside the academy, and the role that social and technical currencies play within them. She also discusses Ladies club, a music distribution project that led to several solo female electronic musicians taking the stage and organising events in Montreal during 2007.

Freida Abtan, “Where is She? Women and Electronic Music Culture.” Contemporary Music Review (The Politics of Sound Art). Routledge, Vol 35, Iss 1, 2016.

Flight of Birds is a 35-minute HD audiovisual composition that draws on notions of anima and the realm of the spirit. The imagery is inspired by traditional Yoruban mythology in which a woman’s spirit may leave her body to travel outside in the form of a bird. Here, a woman longs for flight, staring into a birdcage for the mysteries within. We see her dressed as a bird, dancing, unfolding, but never quite leaving the ground. Darker, winged creatures haunt the air around her. Eventually, she is transformed. She visits the sky, not as a bird, but as a constellation.

Flight of Birds explores strategies to abstract movement and form through surface and temporal manipulation, as well as the defining sensory relationship that exists between sound and image in time-based composition. The piece takes a loose stance on audiovisual association, attempting to match aural and visual material through pace and suggestion rather than clearly defined gesture. The remix uses real-time performative transformations through custom software created in MaxMSP/Jitter. It playfully experiments with both linked and separate audio and visual process to reconfigure the work’s audiovisual discourse.

The project output include individual performances, custom software for real-time media manipulation and control, conference presentations, keynote presentations, and writing on computational aesthetics.

The original footage in Flight of Birds features Audrey Ellis Fox and Bonnie Johnson.

Rhizome DC, Washington DC, USA, Oct 17^th, 2022

iDeATe Media Lab, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, Oct 13^th, 2022

Ellectronix!, Cattivo Bar, Pittsburgh, USA, Aug 6th, 2022

Let Them Eat Cake, Spring House, Pittsburgh, USA, Oct 22^nd, 20021

Panospria Soiree, Vancouver, Canada, Jan 9^th 2020

Not Waiting, London, UK, July 17^th,  2019

Towards Collapse, London, UK, April 13^th 2019

Sound/Image 2018, London, UK, Nov 10th 2018

Electric Spring Festival 2018, Huddersfield, UK Feb 22^nd, 2018

Synthesis Lab, Arizona State Uiversity, Tempe, USA, Dec 14^th 2016

Beast Feast 2016, Birmingham University, Birmingham, UK, Nov 12^th 2016

New River Studios Art Center, London, UK, May 14^th 2016

Seeing Sound Conference, Bath Spa University, Bath, UK, April 10th 2016

“The hands of the dancer” is a 21 minute HD sound and video piece that focuses on imagery related to the mythology of temple dancers and to dreaming. A man sleeps and dreams of a dancing girl who multiplies and shimmers like the desert. Her image is continuously mutating and becomes the landscape of the dream. She looks into a mirror and appears next counting peacock feathers while another presence takes her place as the dancer, making contact with the dreamer.

The imagery explores the multiple ways that movement and form can be abstracted through spatial and temporal manipulation. The narrative evokes a dreamscape in which characters exchange identity and develop through physical transformation. The sounds and images depicted are inspired by traditional Baladi form and are meant to evoke a state in which these bodily gestures convey secret meanings that need not resort to language.

“The hands of the dancer” was created by Freida Abtan with footage of Andrea Fryett, Olivia Li, and David Drury.

Electric Spring Festival 2018, Huddersfield, UK Feb 22^nd, 2018

Beast Feast 2016, Birmingham University, Birmingham, UK, Nov 12^th 2016

Durham University, Durham, UK, June 10^th 2014

FlatPack Festival, Birmingham, UK, March 29^th 2014

Bath Spa University, Bath, UK, March 27^th 2014

London College of Communication, London, UK , Oct 9^th 2013

Call & Response, Café Oto Project Space, London, UK, Sept 27^th 2013

Solo Show, Fleishman Gallery, Toronto, Canada, January – Feb 2012

DIEM, Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark, Nov 15^th 2010

2 Visages de la Musique Électroacoustiques, Musiques et Recherches, Brussels, Belgium, May 20^th 2010

International Computer Music Conference, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, Aug 17^th 2009 

Box Salon, The Rivoli, Toronto, ON, Canada, July 24^th 2009

Exhibit Festival of Digital Culture, Venezio, Italy, July 3^rd 2009

Festival International ZEMOS98, Sevilla, Spain, 22^nd–28^th March 2009

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA, Feb 17^th 2009

Steel Ball, Zaphod Bebblebrox, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Dec 20^th 2008

ART TECH MEDIA, Vimcorso, Cordoba, Spain, Nov 26^th-28^th 2008

(dis)Embodied Touch, McGuffey Art Center, Charlottestown, Virginia, USA, Nov 21^st 2008

Pixilerations Festival, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, Oct 7^th 2007

The Carnie (2010)

Medium:
Moving carousel with synchronized audio and light

Duration:
3:25 Minutes

Dimensions:
10 feet diameter, 15 feet high

The Carnie, combines the artists’ interests in spectacle, narrative, and sculptural sound. A small children’s’ carousel is activated by a start button. It grinds slowly up to speed, while lights and music emanate from the structure and moving shadows are cast onto the walls. The musical source is deconstruced and relocated throughout the structure of the carousel so that the movement of the sound occurs horizontally as well as vertically. The results transform the carnival ride into a layered and evocative encounter.

Credits

Cardiff & Miller

• Composer: Freida Abtan “The Works and Days of Hands”
• Sound Design assistance: Titus Maderlechner
• Construction assistance: Jeff Person, Eric Fagervik

Solo Show: Cardiff & Miller, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico, Jan 25^th – June 30^th 2019

Solo Show, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, Nov 25^th 2017 – March 11^th 2018

Solo show: Something Strange This Way, Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus, Denmark, Nov 19^th – April 19^th 2015 

Solo Show, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York City, USA. 2010.

The Killing Machine (2007)

Medium:
Mixed media, sound, pneumatics, robotics

Duration:
Approx. 5 min.

In an automated ballet of robotics, props, light, and sound, Cardiff and Miller’s The Killing Machine operates on an unseen, imagined victim. You may activate it by pushing the red button labeled “press here.” Alluding in part to Franz Kafka’s 1919 short story “In the Penal Colony,” about an elaborate execution apparatus, The Killing Machine ironically contrasts its sinister activity with the rudimentary mechanics of a music box and playful embellishments like faux fur and a disco ball. Part of the artists’ continued exploration of theatrical tropes and immersive environments, this work brings to life a haunting spectacle that, in its futility, doubles as a critique of the sanctioned use of torture.

Credits

Cardiff & Miller

• Robot arm design: Carlo Crovato
• Music: “Heartstrings” by Frieda Abtan
• Percussion assistance: Titus Maderlechner

Solo Show: Lehmbruck Museum, Duisbruck, Germany, 27th March – 14th Aug 2022

Surrounds: 11 Installations, MOMA, New York City, USA, Oct 21^st 2019 – Jan 4^th 2020

Solo Show: Cardiff & Miller, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico, Jan 25^th – June 30^th 2019

Solo Show, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, Nov 25^th 2017 – March 11^th 2018

Solo show: Something Strange This Way, Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus, Denmark, November 19^th 2014 –April 19^th 2015

Solo Show: Lost in the Memory Palace, Vancouver Art Gallery, June 21^st – Sept 21^st 2014

Solo show: Lost in the Memory Palace, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, USA, Sept 2013 – Jan 2014

Solo show: Lost in the Memory Palace, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, April 6^th – Aug 18^th 2013

Works from the Goetz Collection, Haus der Kuntz, Munich, Germany, April 20^th – July 8^th 2012

Solo show: The House of Books has no Windows, The Modern Art Oxford Gallery, Oxford, England, 2008

Solo show, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain, Feb 2^nd, 2007

Solo show, Miami Art Museum (MAM), Miami, FL, USA, 2007

The Murder of Crows

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.

Credits

Cardiff & Miller

Compositions:

• Lightness and Weight by Freida Abtan
• Traditional Tibetan Prayer performed by the Nuns from Thrangu Tara Abbey, Kathmandu, Nepal
• Bad Foot March by Tilman Ritter, Orion Miller, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller
• The Sacred War, words: Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, music: Aleksandr Aleksandrov
• Murder of Crows Aria, music: Tilman Ritter words: Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller
• Dread by Tilman Ritter
• Crows Did Fly (Kathmandu Lullaby) by George Bures Miller

• All orchestral arrangements by Tilman Ritter, performed by Deutsches Film Orchester Babelsberg, conducted by Günter Joseck.
• Choir conducted by Viktor Skriptchenko (»Sacred War«) and Tilman Ritter (»Aria«).
• Guitars: Orion Miller, Jeff Person, Titus Maderlechner
• Bass: Orissa Miller
• Drums: Titus Maderlechner
• Piano: Tilman Ritter
• Additional orchestration: Thomas Stöwer
• Singers: Michael Mueller, Sophia Brickwell, Ana Pinto, Anna Retczak, Alexander Steinbrecher, Urmas Pevgonen, Sergej Prjahin, Sergej Shafranovich, Valerij Pysarenko, Dmitri Plotnikov, Nikolaj Pavlenko, Andrej Malynk
• Recording, mixing and sound design: Titus Maderlechner
• Installation Supervisor: Carlo Crovato
• Speaker stand construction: Mick Harms

Matadero Madrid, Spain, Feb 17^th – July 25^th 2022

Solo Show: Cardiff & Miller, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico Jan 25^th – June 30^th 2019

Solo show, Park Avenue Armoury, New York, New York, USA, Aug 3^rd – Sept 9^th 2012

Kiasma – Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, Feb 17^th – May 20^th 2012

Solo show: the Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, Art Gallery of Alberta, Canada, 2010

Solo show, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany, 2009

16th Sydney Bienniale : Revolution – Forms that Turn, Sydney, Australia, June 18th – Sept 7th, 2008