Though much of the audience could not see Alvin Lucier during his “I am sitting in a room”, the sound was all that mattered. Lucier’s famous sound piece, which he performed February 5 in Zilkha Gallery, is entirely about what the audience hear.
Lucier collaborated with conceptual artist Sol Lewitt for “Six Resonant Points Along a Curved Wall” and “Curved Wall”, which shares the space where Lucier’s performance was held. LeWitt’s twisting, ceiling-high cardboard wall takes up much of the room, and the performers and audience were seated in a curving, long row along the wall.
Five works by Wesleyan alumni and Australian composer Chris Mann, who also gave the introductory remarks, preceded Lucier’s performance. James Fei MA’99, Judy Dunaway MA’00, Nicolas Collins MA’79, and Ron Kuivila ’77 performed individual pieces that prepared the audience for the main feature yet shined in their own way.
Fei’s “The Nerve Meter” stood out for listeners who were pleasantly overwhelmed by the sound created by what was described in the program as “the output of the Frequency Shifters.” The effect was similar to the sound of the ringing in ears after a loud concert, in an enjoyable way. The thick tones covered all other sounds, such as whispers or footsteps, making the experience entirely auditory and consuming.
“[The Nerve Meter] was definitely odd because I felt like I was removed from the room; I couldn’t hear anything but these sounds,” said Paul Johnson ’08. “It was so bizarre I kind of got chills.”
Lucier performed his most famous work last, which he originally recorded in 1970 in an apartment on 454 High Street. The piece starts off with Lucier slowly stating the process he is about to undertake in a deliberate and slow voice.
“I am sitting in a room,” he begins, “the same room you are in now.”
The presence of the audience members at the performance brings in an interactive quality to the piece; the distortion of Lucier’s voice depends upon the dimensions of the room and the noises present in it. The text that Lucier reads is recorded as it comes out of the loudspeakers, played again, and then spliced back onto the original recording. As this process is repeated, the sound of Lucier’s voice gradually breaks down; by the end, the resonance of the room wins out over any semblance of human speech.
Technology has developed since the 1970 version of “I am sitting in a room,” as is demonstrated by Lucier’s use of a computer program for his Saturday performance.
“For the performance in Zilkha, graduate student Jascha Narveson designed a patch in a computer program known as SuperCollider which, in real time, stored the spoken words, as a tape recorder would,” Lucier said.
The process through which the acoustic quality of the room changed the sound of Lucier’s voice was intriguing to some listeners.
“Even though the program explains how Alvin Lucier does it, I’m still really curious about the process of recording and re-recording,” said Matt Hall ’07. “The first recording and the last are so different, and its hard to realize the moment in which everything starts to break down as you’re listening.”
For others, Lucier’s performance was an introduction into experimental music.
“I feel pretty lucky to have been able to have my first taste of experimental be Lucier,” said Jules Kessler ’08. “I know kids who took his class and they all got really into it and raved about him. I came here with a group of them. I bet they’re his biggest fans.”
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