Janet Cardiff Walk, 'The Missing Voice'

Hello all,

This week’s blog entry is regarding the Janet Cardiff walk ‘The Missing Voice’ which I had to do last week for one of my modules for English literature.  

The Janet Cardiff walk, ‘The Missing Voice’ concentrates on a fictional narration of the East End while providing a close description of the area, starting at Whitechapel library and ending at Liverpool Street station. The listener is expected to allow a ‘voice’ to direct and guide them through the East End and experience the area from a different perspective. I found the walk to be an unforgettable experience where you are obliged to commit yourself to getting lost. 

As I was listening to the audio tape, I realised how suddenly I admitted myself to the instructions provided by the artist, regardless of the people around, as if only what she was saying was true, giving her all the control over me. This made me think about how much I actually participated in this walk as the intended audience and how much control I had. It seems that in fact I did not participate that actively. My role was only to follow the instructions. However, if I had not trusted in what the instructions were telling me to do, in the ‘voice’ , the walk would not have had the same effect. Therefore total submission to the voice is required and so allowing the artist to take over and rule you. 

Whilst walking around, it felt as if the world was set up as a show and I was being shown around the set, whilst knowing that this in fact was the real world. 

I thought the most interesting experience was the way sounds were used in the audio tape. For example, whilst passing through brick lane, I could hear the sound of a band playing music, and it was really effective as it felt that it had grasped the cultural atmosphere of the street and it seemed as if the sounds were really there. It seems surreal the way fictional sounds correspond to reality, and how the artist manages to get inside the listener’s mind, making them believe that something unreal is real. A point came where I became unsure as to whether something was taking place inside the track or outside it, and so felt obliged to let the tape control and guide me. This highlights the way the artist has the power to take over somebody entirely. The artist introduces the listener to the real world as if it is in fact an art work  and the listener explores the world and makes their own judgements. 

Also in a way you are really connected with the world, in that you get a chance to examine the world closely, whilst at the same time being completely disconnected from it through an audio tape. Through the different sounds that are used in the audio, it feels that you are connected intimately with the city yet paradoxically isolated from it. The audio tape separates you from the real sounds around and makes you sensitive to the sounds in the tape and therefore prone to the judgements and emotions provoked by it.

I really enjoyed doing this walk as by simply walking through the streets listening to the ‘voice’, I learned a lot about East End history just by comparing what it used to be to what it is now.