The works of pioneering sound and space artist Michael Brewster.
Six pieces trace the evolution of acoustic sculpture over four decades.
in the 100-inch telescope dome at Mount Wilson Observatory
August 29 & 30, 2026
Performances at 3 & 5pm
Reception at 4pm
Immerse yourself in Within Sound 2: The Acoustic Sculpture of Michael Brewster and discover the groundbreaking auditory world of the late Los Angeles sound artist. A pioneer of sound and space, Brewster coined the term “acoustic sculpture” in 1970 to describe works that are experienced not by standing still, but by moving through carefully shaped sonic fields. Rather than creating music to simply hear, Brewster sculpted sound itself, inviting you to explore it as a physical space.
This retrospective presents six of Brewster’s most iconic acoustic sculptures, tracing the evolution of his work over four decades. As you move throughout the 100-inch telescope dome, you’ll experience increasingly complex sonic environments while discovering Brewster’s unique blend of sound, engineering, architecture, and artistic vision.
Each performance opens with a brief introduction by Peter Shelton, artist, student, and friend of Michael Brewster, offering personal reflections on Brewster’s life, work, and enduring artistic vision. Each work will be introduced briefly by Alex Schetter, who programmed them for this Dome.
For this installation, Brewster’s works have been adapted and precisely tuned to the dimensions of Mount Wilson Observatory’s historic 100-inch Telescope Dome. Designed by renowned Chicago architect D.H. Burnham, the dome is a twentieth-century temple to science whose remarkable acoustics rival those of Europe’s great cathedrals, creating an extraordinary environment for these immersive acoustic sculptures.
Each performance is limited to 60 attendees, allowing visitors the freedom to move throughout the dome and experience the acoustic sculptures as Brewster intended. As he wrote, “We must shift from the ‘stand and look’ behavior of a passive spectator to the exploratory ‘move and listen’ approach of an active participant; slowly walking our ears, instead of moving our eyes, through the environment.”
Rooted equally in art and science, Brewster’s work finds a natural home within the 100-inch dome. Once activated, the acoustic sculptures and the dome become one, inviting us to discover our place within them—just as the telescope encourages us to discover our place in the expansive cosmos. Together, the telescope, the architecture, and Brewster’s acoustic sculptures create an experience unlike any other.
Know Before You Go:
- Tickets are non-refundable; non-transferrable.
- Please plan to arrive early to allow time to purchase a required Forest Adventure Pass at the Cosmic Cafe. Passes can also be purchased in advance at authorized vendors.
- There is a 10-minute walk from the parking lot to the 100-inch telescope; be prepared with comfortable shoes.
- Accessibility Notice: Access to the 100-inch Telescope Dome performance level requires climbing a 53-step staircase. Observatory grounds also include uneven surfaces and sloped paths.
Michael L. Brewster (1946-2016) was a sound artist whose career spanned four decades of experimentation into new art forms, primarily in Southern California. He coined the term “acoustic sculpture” to describe his immersive sonic environments that were key in the evolution of contemporary sound installation. His works are in the permanent collections of MOCA Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Orange County Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, the Giuseppe Panza Collection and private collections. Three of his sound installations are on permanent display in the Panza/FAI Villa in Varese, Italy. Brewster also co-built, and for over forty years, was a professor in the Graduate Arts Department at Claremont Graduate University. Born in Oregon, raised in Brazil, he created his art in a Sound Studio in Venice, California.
Peter Shelton is a Los Angeles-based sculptor whose work has explored the relationship between form, space, and perception for more than five decades. A graduate of Pomona College, where he studied with sculptor Mowry Baden, Shelton became part of the vibrant Southern California art community that shaped a generation of artists, including his longtime friend Michael Brewster. Their shared roots in the Pomona/Claremont community and later in Venice fostered decades of conversations about sculpture, perception, and the experience of space.
Shelton’s sculptures have been exhibited internationally and are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, and numerous public and private collections. His longstanding friendship with Brewster, together with their shared artistic concerns, offers a rare personal perspective on the evolution of Brewster’s pioneering acoustic sculptures and their enduring place within the history of Southern California art.
Alex Schetter is a Los Angeles-based sound artist, musician, and audio technician whose practice occupies the space where creative sound work meets technical problem-solving. He has a particular interest in the systems that connect performance, sound, technology, and physical space, often incorporating custom playback systems, electronics, and experimental approaches to sound. His sound art and installations have been exhibited domestically and internationally.
Schetter studied Music Business at Loyola University New Orleans and Audio Production at The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles, graduating with honors and receiving an Award for Excellence in Audio. His background spans music production, recording, sound design, and the technical preservation and presentation of sound-based work.
As Archival Technician for the Michael Brewster Trust, Schetter has worked extensively with the preservation, restoration, and exhibition of Brewster’s acoustic sculptures. His understanding of audio, acoustics, and electronics has been central to restoring and adapting Brewster’s work for exhibition. For this presentation in particular, he has remastered and engineered the selected works in high-resolution digital audio specifically for the spatial sound system installed within Mount Wilson Observatory’s 100-inch Telescope Dome.