I would not go see The Murder of Crows again. I probably wouldn’t’ve gone to see it on my own, either. I would not recommend it to anyone I know.

But WAIT! Look at the picture above. Aren’t you curious? Don’t stop reading now. Just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t.

The Murder of Crows, a sound installation by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, is housed at the Park Avenue Armory until September 9th. Walking in, all I could think was HUGE, GINORMOUS! I would’ve also thought MAMMOTH, VAST, COSMIC, IMMENSE, if I were a dictionary.

At the center, there is a circle of light, which fades into very dark darkness. There are folding chairs surrounding the circle of light, some for sitting, some for speakers to sit on. Also, speakers hung above, and lay on the floor. At the center was a gramophone, and a voice came out of it- Janet, one of the artists, narrating her dreams.
The artists tried to make it scaaaaary, spooooooky! — but the narrator had such a monotonous, dull voice that just sucked all the emotion out of the creepy stuff she was describing.

I did get a little scared though-the 98 speakers (98!) shot out noises so clearly I jumped a few times-it really sounded like someone was rattling the gates, a crow was flying above my head, and shoes were walking towards me. As for the story…it was creepy, but not creepy enough at the same time. It was like a lame haunted house that doesn’t make you scream-just hurts your eyes with strobe lights.

It wasn’t enjoyable, but it was definitely different. That I must give it credit for.

I’ve never been to a sound installation before, and it is something to be experienced. So while I wouldn’t recommend The Murder of Crows, I would recommend seeing-hearing, whatever-a sound installation. Put it on your bucket list.