In
‘The Gothic’, Gilda Williams’ introductory essay defines “Gothic” as a
“borrowed term in contemporary art, applied liberally to artworks centering on
death, deviance, the erotic macabre, psychologically charged sites, disembodied
voices and fragmented bodies” (Williams, p.12). Wisps of the elements listed
above are often associated with the work of Janet Cardiff and George Bures
Miller. For example, Kimmelman describes their ‘Paradise Institute’ (2001) as “slyly
gothic” in his article for The New York Times, and on Cardiff and Miller’s
website, ‘Pandemonium’
(2005) located in the Eastern State Penitentiary, is depicted as “gothic [with] castle-like towers”. ‘The Murder of
Crows’ (2008), ‘The Paradise Institute’ (2001) and all of Cardiff’s audio walking tours “provid[e] mere cues to
narratives—narratives housed in culture, especially genre (such as the
gothic)—which can only be finished subliminally, in viewers’ psyches” according
to David Blaze in ‘Canadian Art Review’. Justin Davidson discusses Cardiff’s ‘Forty-Part Motet’ (2001) as “a massive work of musical architecture in which
eight groups of five singers meet and diverge like the ribs in a Gothic vault”,
whereas
‘The Dark Pool’ (1995) and ‘The Muriel Lake Incident’ (1999) “[are] wryly
comic, [with] self-consciously mannered, gothic narrative alluding to pulp
films and dime-store novels” writes Daniel Baird for ‘Contemporary Art Center’.
In ‘An Intimate Distance Riddled with Gaps: The Art of Janet Cardiff’,
Caryoln Christov-Bakargiev highlights how Cardiff’s ‘The Missing Voice: Case Study B’ (1999) is situated in
London’s Whitechapel, infamously linked to Jack the Ripper’s haunts. The two
“Janets” on this walk, scary childhood memories, abduction, references to being
blind-folded, naked and watched, dead bodies, fragmented narratives, science
fiction and haunted houses in theme parks, all allude to the Gothic genre’s
central themes of madness, the subconscious, eroticism, sexual violence, terror
and darkness.
In
his article on the ‘Modern Gothic’, Jerry Saltz compounds his statement that
“the best Modern Gothic art is way more than Gothic” by stating that “most art
that is primarily Gothic… always has been schlock” as “it’s campy, corny,
nostalgic… [where] cheap thrills and clichés predominate”. These are challenges
that I face in my own work and is exactly why I am so intrigued by Cardiff and
Miller, whose art surpasses any stagnant tendencies with its inventive,
multi-sensory and technologically sophisticated components.
The
potency of Cardiff’s (and Miller’s) work can largely be attributed to
experiments with sound that create spaces playing with: cinematic cues and
language, emotionally manipulative music, intimacy achieved by narration that
melds subjectivity, confusion of outer and inner reality, using a hushed,
dreamy voice disclosing personal fears, desires and memories, and a fragmented
script which leaves the audience in a permanent state of suspense. The work’s playfulness is not exclusively
confined to sound explorations, however, and is often combined with video and
sculptural installations (Christov-Bakargiev, 2001).
In
‘Janet Cardiff’, Christov-Bakargiev conveniently groups the artist’s complex
works, including her collaborations with husband Miller, thematically and
discusses elements of the walks, fictions, intimacies and identities comprising
it. The Walks are described as “re-envelopment in a surrogate persona’s
universe” (Christov-Bakargiev, p.20) and structured using a specific route,
layers of sound and improvised scripts. As one experiences the artwork alone,
in a location chosen by the artist, Janet’s instructions (perhaps alluding to a
Feminist concept of a woman being in control) delivered via headphones (so,
inside your head), lead you on a path that allows you to surrender and merge
with her. Psychologically, although actively engaged with the physical and
audio aspects of the experience created within the work, the audience is
simultaneously assigned a passive role, which again can reference the
traditional (gender) power structure, while being perceived as erotic. The
binaural recordings of music, environmental noise and dramatic sounds like
gunshots and footsteps, superimposed on the existing situational ones, blur the
distinctions of internal and external realities. The voice the audience listens to, often
Janet’s and often quiet, doesn’t just guide you geographically, but describes
visuals that can be real or imagined, seen by the audience or by the narrator
and shares personal memories, confessions and feelings, thus heightening the
intimate relationship. Sometimes there is an element of voyeurism, as one
overhears dialogues and dreams and a trance-like state is created by the rhythm
of walking, interspersed by pauses and stops in allocated spots. As Janet’s
voice is internally located (headphones), the fluidity of subjectivity implies
a post-modern notion of self (Christov-Bakargiev, 2001).
Cardiff’s
fiction in her work, references the Science Fiction genre (one that has
connections with the Gothic, such as Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’) in literature and film and is an important influence.
Ideas ranging from sound-scapes sampled from movies, to fantasies of “living in
a futuristic surveillance society” (Christov-Bakargiev, p, 27), all form a part
of the narrative and are traversed in nuanced layers. When I personally asked
Janet to comment on themes of the Gothic and Feminism (ideas relevant to my
research) in contemporary work, she mentioned the writings of Angela Carter,
especially her book entitled “The Bloody Chamber and other stories”. In these
short stories, Carter (also a fan of Science Fiction) “revisions” traditional
fairy tales “that deal directly with the imagery of the unconscious” and, like
Cardiff, explores women’s desires, sadomasochistic relationships, sexual violence,
gender hierarchies but also seduces the reader with “imaginative pleasure” in
vividly sensuous surroundings (Simpson, 2006). Feminist efforts to bring the
private into the public realm, may also contribute to the intimacy that
permeates so much of Cardiff’s work. By whispering phrases like “When I’m so
close, I can smell the warmth of your neck” Cardiff seduces the audience into a
private space, within a public setting (Christov-Bakargiev, 2001).
In
their introduction to ‘Postfeminist Gothic’, Brabon and Genz outline the term
as one that “revitalizes Gothic and feminist criticism and invites new
perspectives beyond the theories of the second wave and the Female Gothic”
(2007). In my conversation with Janet Cardiff, we discussed the compelling Feminist
ideas of the 70s and the need to go beyond them in contemporary artwork that
must broach the subject in an inventive way. I feel that the ‘Postfeminist
Gothic’ discourse can be a fertile ground for my research, enabling me to
incorporate multi-layered concepts of the subversive and occult, the dramatic,
sensuous and excessive, the exotic, evocative and escapist, and ultimately
“otherness” and all its non-conformist hybrids. Interestingly, the Gothic can
be seen as and aesthetic undermining the academic conceptualism binding
contemporary art (Williams, 2007).
On
a personal level, some of the ideas driving my own practice, stem from feeling
trapped in an isolated existence, lacking in stimulation and pleasure on many
levels, in a society that is patriarchal, commercial and controlling. The
“smallness” of my life confines me to a limited experience, and so a neurotic
and self-obsessive relationship with myself, as well as a claustrophobic sense
of space emerges in some of my work. I have also looked to occult philosophies
that challenge the dogmatic views indoctrinating the inferiority of women but
have perhaps expressed these influences clumsily and too literally. My
involvement in “rescuing” stray animals over the last fifteen years has
certainly put me in touch with the dark side of humanity. I also relate to the
post-modernist idea of being completely alienated culturally, because of my
particular background, which makes “otherness” very relevant. Having said all
this, the Gothic aesthetic, with its air of mystery and drama and celebration
of unconscious impulses also offers many opportunities to explore a lush
language of sensory stimuli. The work of Cardiff and Miller have certainly
expanded the landscape of possibilities for me, in navigating the genre with
more awareness and tools that defy falling prey to interpreting it, in too
limited a way.
“The
Gothic remains non-, anti-, and counter- by definition, always asserting that
the conventional values of life and enlightenment are actually less instructive
than darkness and death.” (Williams, p.19)
Bibliography
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