I really understood early Glass a lot more when I got the chance to visit a Richard Serra sculpture in LA. Literally walking in the piece helped me understand this idea you're talking about - when I listen to that music now it's a helpful framework to think of exploring a sonic space, rather than tracking linear music like I would with other composers.
I saw that too if it's the one that was at the Ohio State University in 1986 or 1987. I was just a kid who had never heard of either of those guys, but I still remember it thirty-some years later.
