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Alvin Lucier, I am sitting in a room, 1969/2014, Audio installation. 17:36 min. Di- mensions variable. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Committee on Media and Performance Art Funds. © 2015 Alvin Lucier. Image courtesy Alvin Lucier

Alvin Lucier: I am sitting in a room

Artist: Alvin Lucier
January 23 - May 22, 2016
Irving Stenn, Jr. Family Gallery

I am sitting in a room is a sound installation by renowned American composer Alvin Lucier, first performed in 1969, that is being re-created for the first time as an installation in UMMA’s Irving Stenn, Jr. Family Gallery.

In the piece, Lucier himself is heard reading a text, playing the recording back into a room, and then re-recording it. The re-recorded material is then played back and re-recorded. This process is repeated multiple times, until eventually the words become unintelligible. The text being read by the artist describes this process: it begins “I am sitting in a room, different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice.” Lucier’s work explores the physical properties of sound—the resonance of spaces and the transmission of sound through physical media. This work, as it fills the gallery and reacts to its acoustic properties, transforms the space with sound.

SUPPORT

Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost and the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment.