Have you ever heard of Janet Cardiff? Until reading a pushed article from the The New York Times, I hadn't. It seems Cardiff has several European shows underway. Very interesting installations which involve slipping on a headset, parking your disbelief at the door and being guided by a mysterious voice through a perhaps perilous place. The Times writer first heard Cardiff's voice float out of her headset at a gallery in Lucerne:

From Cardiff's Real Time

"Suddenly a woman whispered in my ear, 'Sorry I'm late.' I wheeled around to see who had invaded the booth. No one was there. The voice was in the headphones. As the singer onstage sang, the voice kept whispering next to me -- something about the singer, the song, a box under my seat, a gun, a crime to be committed. Then she left. I looked under my seat. Nothing was there. I left the booth and put the voice out of my mind."

Now you'd think that would be the end of the newspaper writer's experience with Cardiff. Not so. The writer went to another installation at the Tate Modern in London, picked up the headphones and:

"Is there any popcorn left?" a familiar voice whispered in my ear ... The voice belonged to Janet Cardiff, an artist from Lethbridge, Alberta, and it had me snared. When I learned that the voice could be heard in Whitechapel, the East London neighborhood where Jack the Ripper did his dirty work, I went. At the Whitechapel Library I exchanged my credit card for "The Missing Voice (Case Study B)": a pair of headphones, a Discman and a map of the neighborhood."

The writer goes on to relate a fascinating tale of wandering the streets, following Cardiff's instructions, listening to her observations and trying to solve a murder. Is anyone familiar with Janet Cardiff? And if so, have you had the opportunity to participate in any of her audio installation pieces? Since writing this piece I've discovered that she's soon to become the next big thing.