The Project
Welcome to the digital companion to my master's thesis, "Sound and Documentary in Cardiff and Miller's 'Pandemonium,'" completed spring 2015 in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland, College Park. At the heart of my project is the temporary, site-specific sound installation Pandemonium, which occupied the Eastern State Penitentiary historic site in Philadelphia from 2005 through 2007.
- Chapter 1 introduces the artwork, its site, its makers, and interpretations of the work so far.
- Chapter 2 investigates Pandemonium's relationship to music and sound art.
- Chapter 3 situates Pandemonium, and Cardiff's audio walk Words Drawn in Water (2005), in terms of the trompe l'oeil realist tradition and documentary-related practices in contemporary art.
This site is primarily an experiment - one that is active and ongoing - in presenting research on sound art in a format that facilitates listening as well as looking. My aim is to offer an informal and flexible experience of this kind of content. The site will evolve in dialogue with users - I welcome your critical feedback!