
The Forty Part Motet (A reworking of “Spem in Alium,” by Thomas Tallis 1556)
2001 · Forty-track sound recording, forty speakers
14 min.
Museum of Modern Art

Janet Cardiff is a British sound artist and installation maker working primarily with audio walks and immersive spatial compositions. Her practice combines field recordings, architectural intervention, and choreographed listening experiences that collapse the boundary between real and imagined sound environments. Working since the 1990s, Cardiff creates works that position the listener's body and movement as central to meaning, often layering multiple temporal or narrative registers within a single acoustic space. Her sound installations and walking pieces have established a distinctive approach to sculpture understood through the ear rather than the eye.
Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 25d ago