The City of Forking Paths

Facebook Twitter Google+

APP TERMS OF USE

To experience this work as the artists intended, we recommend you start this walk inside Customs House after sunset, using quality headphones. To provide feedback on your experience, please email publicart@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

To use the City of Forking Paths audio walk, you agree to the following terms:

  • You must be 18 years or older, unless accompanied by an adult. The walk is not suitable for children under 12 years old.
  • You understand and acknowledge that using the app contains elements of obvious and inherent risk. These include risks created by feelings of distraction and disorientation.
  • You agree to release, hold harmless and indemnify the City of Sydney and the artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller against any action, demand, cost, liability or loss due to any damage, loss injury or death caused or contributed to by using the app.

Videos

By viewing these files, you accept the terms and conditions above.

Artist
Artists: George Bures Miller, Janet Cardiff
Curator
Curator: Juliana Engberg
Location
Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, SYDNEY, 2000
Artist Website

Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, SYDNEY, 2000

Artwork Description

Immerse yourself in the engrossing world of fact and fiction as artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller lead you on a twilight video walk around The Rocks.

Experienced on a smart phone or mobile device, The City of Forking Paths leads people on a fictional journey through physical surrounds at dusk. Starting at Customs House in Circular Quay, the work weaves a trail through The Rocks.

Against the backdrop of real streets, the artists invent fictional scenarios and incidents for users to discover along the way. Guided by the voice of Janet Cardiff, familiar streets, made mystical at dusk, become the backdrop for an unfolding narrative of memory, displacement and desire.

The title is an homage to Jorges Luis Borges’ story, The Garden of Forking Paths, a tale that uses the genre of a spy story to uncover questions of time and loss.

– Juliana Engberg, Artistic Director, 19th Biennale of Sydney

Artists

Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are internationally renowned for their distinctive and innovative body of works comprising of multimedia audio installations and site-specific walks.

Commission

The City of Sydney commissioned one major artwork from each of the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Biennale of Sydney exhibitions.

The City of Forking Paths was commissioned by the 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire, curated by Julianna Engberg.

This is the first City of Sydney legacy artwork that will remain in Sydney as a permanent legacy.

Get arts and culture updates from City of Sydney News.

Sign up