Throughout my life and the majority of the population’s lives, sound plays a large part of daily life. In particular it reminds me to do things in my daily routine such as wake up when I hear the harsh ringing of my phone’s alarm, close the fridge when i’m done using it because I hear the machine start to work harder, or turn off the sink or shower water if it’s not already fully turned off. The slow “drip drip” sound of the water droplets falling one at a time into the sink is at first hardly noticeable background noise but eventually grows in strength until I can’t simply ignore it and become stressed from the never-ending sound of water splashing granite. Similarly if i’m in one of my parents’ cars while they go to get gas the persistent car beeping plays the role of the water droplets by forcing me to open the door to avoid the uncomfortability caused by a particular sound that is typically background noise suddenly becoming a noticeable part of our lives.
When listening to the Lucier recording, one thing jumps out at me and that is the fact that depending on how deep you are invested into the recording itself, your view on the work is affected and so is what you take away and that is something I experimented with myself. When I was heavily invested with listening to every word that Lucier said I could notice over time how the voices were overlapping to form something new rather than what the words themselves actually mean. However when I played the recording as background noise It was easy to forget what exactly you are listening to and what purpose it has. Based on my deeper listening I assume that Lucier was attempting to bring forth the idea that anything can become more than what it first seems and that repetition/acceptance is effective in taking away negative attention from something such as Lucier’s stutter. Over the 40 plus minute recording we observe a monotone statement with a stutter transform into a work of art resembling music with nothing but layered voices.
