Yoshi Torralva – Looking Outwards – 04

The Forty Part Motet fits within an emerging fine arts category — sound sculpture. Created by Janet Cardiff and first installed in 2001, the artist uses 40 speakers to create an experience that transports oneself into a choir. Each speaker only emits a single recording of a singer in the Salsbury Cathedral Choir. What this does is heighten the experience of being in the actual cathedral. Additionally, one can move around the speakers to have the feeling as if they were immersed in the choir floor. What I admire about this is that it uses technology in a way that is founded on creating a compelling human experience. Each speaker represents the individuality of the singular singer and allows for the opportunity for the viewer to partake in different listening experiences. A customized algorithm to channel the individual sound recordings to individual speakers most likely had to be used. Much explanation wasn’t provided on the technical aspects, but the program used most likely had to implement various channelings to different audio recordings and speaker inputs. What I find very interesting is that the artist focuses on the limitation of unnecessary visual elements to heighten the powerful voices within this installation.