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 a 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 Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, and its existing interpretations in print.
- Chapter 2 investigates Pandemonium's relationship to music and sound art, as well as to writer and electronic music producer Steve Goodman's concept of sonic force, and chronicles the evolution of Pandemonium.
- Chapter 3 situates Pandemonium, and Cardiff's audio walk Words Drawn in Water (2005), in the trompe l'oeil realist tradition and in dialogue with documentary-related practices in contemporary art and offers some conclusions.
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 such multimedia content. The site will evolve in dialogue with users - I welcome your critical feedback!