Apr, 22, 2026
Media AlertsModern and Contemporary Art
Phoenix Art Museum presents interactive audio installation by renowned artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller
Appearing for the first time in Arizona, the nationally acclaimed piece, inspired by 1960s Mellotrons, encourages visitor engagement
PHOENIX (April 22, 2026) – This summer, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) will present the acclaimed art installation The Instrument of Troubled Dreams by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller to Arizona audiences for the first time. Internationally recognized Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are known for their immersive multimedia sound installations and audio and video walking tours that invite visitor engagement and sensory engagement. Created in 2019, The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is an interactive, room-sized audio installation featuring a modified 1960s Mellotron MK II keyboard, 23 speakers, and chairs. Museum visitors are invited to sit and play the instrument, experiencing a range of music, vocal tracks, and background sounds. The Instrument of Troubled Dreams will be on view in the Marshall Gallery at PhxArt from June 13, 2026 through May 2028.
“The Instrument of Troubled Dreams reflects the Museum’s ongoing commitment to bringing more immersive, experiential art into our galleries,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “This installation by the internationally recognized artists known for their immersive multimedia sound installations and audio/video walks is a rare opportunity for our community to experience how their work harnesses sound to forge connection, spark memory, and create powerful, story-driven moments grounded in both personal and collective experience.”
Born in small rural towns in Canada, Janet Cardiff (b. 1957) and George Bures Miller (b. 1960) have collaborated for more than 35 years. Working with sound and new media technologies—including film, robotics, and advanced audio-recording techniques—they create immersive, interactive installations that explore memory, narrative, space, and time. Their video installation The Berlin Files (2003) was featured in the Museum’s 2006 exhibition Constructing New Berlin, the first major survey of contemporary art produced in post-Wall Berlin. The Instrument of Troubled Dreams marks the second presentation of their work at Phoenix Art Museum and the Arizona premiere of this particular installation.
To engage with the work, Museum visitors are invited to sit at a modified 1960s Mellotron keyboard and become active participants in The Instrument of Troubled Dreams. Each of the instrument’s 72 keys has been programmed to trigger a distinct sound, musical phrase, or vocal track, ranging from a raven flying through the gallery to soldiers searching through an apartment to a carnival ensemble on a barge floating past onlookers. As visitors improvise on the keyboard, they will arrange a distinct audio odyssey, composing unexpected and vivid soundtracks that evoke narratives that are forever shifting.
“Cardiff and Miller transform sound into a storytelling medium,” said Christian Ramírez, the Museum’s Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement. “As visitors activate the installation, layers of music, voices, and environmental sounds unfold in real time, creating cinematic audio landscapes that shift with every choice. The work invites audiences to step inside a constantly evolving narrative shaped by listening, memory, and participation.”
The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is on loan to PhxArt from the collection of Diane and Bruce Halle, longtime supporters of contemporary art and lenders of Carlos Amorales’ Black Cloud, also on view in the Museum’s Greenbaum Lobby and John Morrell Promenade.
About the Installation
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller: The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is on loan from the Diane and Bruce Halle Collection. Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller: The Instrument of Troubled Dreams is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and coordinated by Christian Ramírez, the Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Director of Engagement.
Contemporary art exhibitions and projects are made possible in part by the Rob Walton, Jordan Rose, and Rose Law Group Fund for Contemporary Art. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.
Admission is free for Museum Members and youth aged 5 and younger. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 8 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix, with additional support by Arizona Community Foundation. For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.
High-resolution photography can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at press@phxart.org or kaylee.weyrauch@phxart.org.
About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) has engaged millions of visitors with the art of our region and world. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, PhxArt creates spaces of exchange and belonging for all audiences through dynamic exhibitions, collections, and experiences with art. Each year, 300,000 guests on average engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 21,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern, and contemporary art and fashion design, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. PhxArt also presents live performances, outstanding examples of global cinema, arts-education programs and workshops, a monthly live-music series, and more for the community. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.
About Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller
Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller live and work in British Columbia. They are internationally recognized for their immersive multimedia sound installations and their audio and video walks. Their work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey, Mexico (2019); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (2018); the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2017); the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2017); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark (2015); the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2015); the Menil Collection, Houston (2015); the 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014); the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2013); and Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012). In 2011, they received Germany’s Käthe Kollwitz Prize. In 2001, they represented Canada at the 49th Venice Biennale, where they received the Premio Speciale and the Benesse Prize.
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