Janet Cardiff

Janet Cardiff's audio walk makes it seem like she is indside your head and mind, guiding your thoughts and actions. Though she says in the interview that she still wanted the listener to relate to the her thoughts and sounds and make them think of another memory. In the her audio walk, she reminds me of a good friend who is whispering into your ear, while you listen intently and relate to her thoughts yourself. I enjoyed Cardiff's idea that, sometimes there are too many choices in life. So this audio walk is nice vacation in which the listener takes a journey through another person's mind.
The three-level spatial structure in her London project worked well to take me to the same place. The footprints in the background were the guiding audio throughout the whole piece. They assured me that I was still on a walk with her and she was the guide throughout. Her voice that is pointing out places and memories is in the foreground throughout most of the piece, but is interrupted by the sounds that are specific to the area she wants to change her focus to. I like how these specific audio are sometimes referring to the present and at other points referring to the past or even a dream. The man's voice that comes into the foreground sporatically is not even acknowledged by Cardiff until the end. This almost makes the listener wonder if they are imagining this voice. The audio in the second layer, when it is not focused on in the foreground, helps to specify where Cardiff is taking the listener. The birds chirpping, child talking, water flowing, etc. place the listener in a certain area and make them imagine what is in Cardiff's vision.