Air to Air (1975)

Album title: Air to Air
Title: N.Y.. - L.A. (Side 01)
Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Date: 1975
Medium: record 30 cm
Edition: 1000

Air to Air by Keith Sonnier is an audio recording of a room installation whose central element was a telephone connection between Los Angeles and New York City. The presentation took place in 1975 at the Ace Galery in Los Angeles and the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and allowed participants to talk to each other in the other city. The A-side of the LP Air to Air contains the recordings of conversations in the direction from New York to L.A., the B-side features the channel in the direction from L.A. to New York. In a 16-channel mix in which mostly only one of the two interlocutors can be heard, the snippets of conversation seem disjointed and aimless, at the same time surprised and engaged in an alien situation that seems to remain comfortable and safe because of the distance created. Only occasionally does meaningful communication emerge, which is often technical instructions from the performers.

PS