NEW YORK, NY.- From August 3 through September 9, 2012, artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller animate Park Avenue Armory’s cavernous drill hall with their largest installation to date, a dream-like soundscape that envelops audiences in a poetic and visceral sonic experience. In its U.S. premiere, The Murder of Crows continues Cardiff & Bures Miller’s exploration of physical and sculptural attributes of sound, transforming the Armory’s 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall into an immersive environment where sound alone creates vivid imagery and narrative structure.

The three-part, 30-minute composition weaves together a fluttering of voices, music, and sounds to construct a captivating and confounding melodrama that investigates concepts of love, loss, and vulnerability. Ninety-eight speakers mounted on stands, chairs, and walls throughout the drill hall give voice to the various scenes and characters in this enigmatic narrative—from crashing waves to a marching band to the hubbub of a factory floor. At the center of the installation, Cardiff’s detached voice emanates from a gramophone speaker, recounting a series of disturbing dreams that providing an armature for the work.

Created in collaboration with Freida Abtan, Tilman Ritter, and Titus Maderlechner, The Murder of Crows was originally commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary for the 2008 Biennale of Sydney and is presented by the Armory in association with the Mostly Mozart Festival.