“The Grain of Voice” by Roland Barthes touches on the idea that voice in itself is meant to take on a symbolic figure rather than being interpreted for its literal property. In other words, as Barthes describes it, “Above all, [the] voice bears along directly the symbolic, over the intelligible…” This concept relates perfectly to Lucier’s performance in that the content of the words being spoken were in many ways irrelevant to the phonic experience being conveyed. As the track continues to loop, Lucier’s words become incomprehensible and all we are left with is a meshed composition of noises. This suggests that the actual verbiage in the performance was unimportant, or at the very least secondary to the noises that comprised the words. Further, and in the context of Barthes theory, Lucier would be more concerned with how his audience construes the sounds that come from performance over their understanding of the the tangible words. Ultimately, as I believe Barthes would argue, the noises being transmitted at the tail-end of Lucier’s performance are essentially the intended message being condensed into its purest symbolic form.
