Marcus Fischer

USA, b. 1977, Torrance, CA, lives and works in Portland, OR

Marcus Fischer: We Are the Confluence of Two Rivers

North View Gallery at Portland Community College Sylvania

12000 SW 49th Ave, Portland, OR 97219

Performance: Sunday, August, 30 at 11:00am

About the Project

Marcus Fischer (Portland) creates, collects, and transforms sound into immersive, layered compositions that take the form of live performances and installations. For the 2026 C45 Triennial, he will debut the site specific performance We Are the Confluence of Two Rivers in a rock garden on the PCC Sylvania campus. The work connects two columns via looped audio tape, playing sounds connected to his personal history and creative community. Integrating specialized equipment from PCC’s endangered Sonic Arts program, Fischer explores collective dreaming and the power of sound to connect people across distances.

Artist Bio

As a first-generation American artist, Fischer uses site-specific assemblages of exposed speakers, tape loops, and handmade objects to construct sonic environments often characterized by melodies of restraint and tension. His broader practice explores the possibilities of sound to convey complex ideas, as seen in his recent solo exhibition What Was Lost and What Remains, which addressed themes of loss, generational trauma, and gun violence in the United States.

Fischer has earned significant national recognition, notably contributing two sound works and two performances to the 2019 Whitney Biennial as the sole artist representing the Pacific Northwest region. He has recorded and performed internationally, collaborating with an array of prominent artists including Taylor Deupree, Eileen Myles, Aki Onda, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laura Ortman, Stephen Vitiello, Calexico, and Raven Chacon.

His work has been supported by major honors, including being named a Hallie Ford Fellow for the Visual Arts by The Ford Family Foundation. He has also been awarded prestigious artist residencies at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, MacDowell, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, and the Headlands Center for the Arts.