HW8.2.1 Sound Artist Research: Alvin Lucier

Alvin Lucier is an artist who uses sound and recordings in his work.  Several years ago, I became aware of his work, I Am Sitting in a Room.  The original work consisted of Lucier sitting in a room with a microphone and a tape recorder.  He narrated a pre-conceived statement into the microphone saying, “I am sitting in a room, different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice...” and so on.  Once he finished speaking his statement, the recorded tape was played into the room while being recorded on to a new tape.  Then the new recording was played and recorded.  This happened again and again for forty-five minutes.  At first the recordings sound like faithful portrayals of Lucier's original statement.  Eventually, like a document that has been photocopied far too many times, the recordings begin to develop distortions.  Certain frequencies began to emerge and are made more prominent with each new recording.  By the end of the work, Lucier's original statement is no longer decipherable.  The recordings result in a droning static hum that represents the ambient sound existing in the room.  Lucier's work is especially interesting due to his speech impediment.  As a man with a stutter, Lucier was familiar with oratory distortions and may have been inspired by them.  His stutter makes a small appearance in I Am Sitting in a Room, but is erased along with the rest of his speech in the final product.

Sources:
http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2015/01/20/collecting-alvin-luciers-i-am-sitting-in-a-room/
http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2014/10/17/356999444/what-art-and-the-game-telephone-teach-us-about-copying-speech?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2041