Response:
When I first began listening to the videotape of I am Sitting in A Room, I quickly began to question many aspects of the assignment as well as the material itself. I was confused as to how the reiteration of a man’s speech could tie in relevancy to the course’s focus on real-time audiovisual performances. I closed my eyes and listened intensely to the man’s voice, taking in every single stutter he tried to smooth out and without realizing, I began to mouth and speak the words in unison with the performer. I slowly fell into a trance, almost dozing off to sleep with how soothing the performer’s voice was, partnered with the choppy yet eloquent stutters that brought maturity and smoothness to the overall performance. I barely even realized how Lucier’s voice was gradually and gradually becoming overpowered by the intensity of the environmental music being created. I only realized this haziness in Lucier’s speech at the 4-minute mark. The changes in tone and clarity were so minor in its parts, yet so intense in its whole that I was so amazed when I compared the endings with its beginnings. I had undergone what is known as, in biological terms, adaptive hearing. As I could no longer hear Lucifer’s voice, the low and high-frequency sounds that hit my eardrums varied between ear-screeching and surprisingly soothing. It is honestly crazy to see how a man reiterating a single sentence is able to create such a lasting effect on listeners and artists alike.
While the listening portion of the assignment granted me access into the actual art and music of I am Sitting in a Room, the reading portion provided by MoMA INSIDE/OUT delineated the logistics behind the creation. I learned its intricate yet simplistic process of having Lucier record a speech in a relatively empty room and play that recording back into the room for repetition of the steps. I could visualize in my head the actual environment of the room, and understand how, as the room’s resonant frequencies grew and reinforced with each recording, the environmental music slowly but surely made its presence known.
Art, in my understanding, had always been a vast and ambiguous title. I thought that just about anything could fit under the brand, as long as creativity and thought were placed into the product or finding. With a range that expanded from digital art to physical installations and to visual effects, I certainly did not leave out the realms of sound and music. This assignment merely reinforced the position of sound and music within the context of art and showed just how frequently we can find art in our environments.