john cage overpopulation and art 1

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Overpopulat on and Art

John Cage

0 abOut 1948 or 50 the number of people liVing

all at oncE equaled the numbeR who had ever lived at any time all added together

the Present as far as numbers gO

became equal to the Past we are now in the fUture

it is something eLse hAs iT doubled

has It quadrupled all we nOw

kNow for sure is the deAd

are iN the minority they are outnumbereD by us who're living

whAt does this do to ouR

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Overpopulation and Art

v way of communicaTing

mail's rarely frOm people we know i spend time saVing it

to sEnd it to wesleyan noRthwestern or santa cruz

for fungi'n'arts a Picture's thus given Of this moment in history

ePhemera give it rest of the mail's bUreaucratic fundraising by institutions concerned

with heaLth

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environmenT human rights etc

three cOpies of the same documeNt contribution rerequests

bureAucratic iNefficiency

glaringly exhibiteD All

thRown away Triplicate

stamped envelOpes included 'phone rings reViving

practicE whetheR sentient or nonsentient

Practice Of buddhism

including the telePhone is the bUddha

is worLd-honored is Answered is The

the general outlines of every being

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Is Of

is emptiN essfullness All of

creatioN enDless

interpenetrAtion togetheR

wiTh nOnobstruction

of what aVail thEn the use

of answeRing service attemPt

tO free oneself from interruPtion

solitUde for just a moment regained is utterLy

finAlly lostT

finding 19th nOt 21st iN 20th century Are you

iN to fax anD

electronic mAil aRe you

in Touch hce 0

we live in glass hOuses our Vitric surroundings

transparEnt Reflective

.John Cage

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Putting images Outside

in sPace of what's inside oUr homes

everything's as muLtiplied As we are

each momenT Is magic

we have nO idea what's beiNg seen

or heArd the quaNtity

is beyonD count the quAlity is

Readymade arT

this demOnstrates Validity

of thosE woRks of art

in which no Place is mOre

imPortant than another beaUty at aLl points if it doesn't click

wittgenstein tAke a clicker from your pockeT

and click it transfOrm

your perceptioN of it of whAtever

No matter what the name what the artist's name no neeD

for bAlance

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haRmony conTrast climax

in this situatiOn what's the artist's proper behaVior

sElf-expRession

or should artists be Put aside sO

to sPeak be changed asking qUestions

instead of foLlowing lAws

or making an aTtempt after breaking them

tO establish

..John Cage

yet aNother or others getting rid of the principles oflAw

of coNtrol increasing worlD

And life enjoyment

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seem moRe radical 140

removal of The likes and dislikes chance Operations wanting to get a taxi

aVoiding a gEntleman

on the coRner who was there ahead of me i seParated

my prOblem from his by going to the oPposite side of the street

jUst as i haiLed

An empTy cab

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Overpopulation and Ar1:

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I was surprised the gentleman rushed ahead Of me

aNd Actually

got iN the cab without even a remark i Don't know

whether he hAppened to see but anotheR cab picked me up

before he was ouT of sight •

what are sOme of the Various

Eventualities in a changed society no goveRnment

keePing educatiOn in first Place keeping it

that is for yoU to give to yourseLf

increAse of unemploymenT

until we are all self-emplOyed self-taught self-goverNed

Away Not just to say anarchy

but to Do it forget the politiciAns

they aRe on The

mOon when they saw we were no longer Voting

thEy left not botheRing with money

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Preferring credit credit's electrOnic

no Person need be withoUt it

but who'Ll do All The work those who do

will have pleasure seeing their wOrk actually carried out

robots makiNg robots we hAve the Next war

mappeD out for us to mAke

the woRld safe for poverTy

viOlation Violation

oflaws madE

.John Cage

to pRotect the rich while there's still government Pass laws

based On the needs of the Poor give them shelter

sqUatting priviLeges

chAnge The

economic structure Of society

out of profit'N' ownership into use the police wAlled up the doors

'N' winDows

the house is Again not used

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Overpopulation and Ar1:

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and the people aRe sTill hOmeless

mayor said e Viet thE squat

the police did it bRutally a house was emPty

we restOred it filled sPace with life

concerts discUssions peopLe's kitchen

librAries nobody geTs money

for her or his wOrk a Nonprofit bAsis

chaNges of behavior Discussions About sex

oveRcoming repressive sTructures

0 haVing

no nEed foR art

Pleased with what i see 0 Pleased with what i hear

sUrrounded by muLtiplicity

he sAid he could imagine a world wiThout art

and that It wasn't bad

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0 artlessNess

the sound of trAffic aN instance of silence

the sounD of trAffic

the sound of tRaffic an insTance

Of silence reViving

practicE of chRistianity

sPlit the stick 0

'phone rings

sPlit the stick and there is jesUs waLking

on the wAlking on The writing

0 oN

the wAter oN the water as though

nothing happeneD the snow the white Animal asleep safely

asleep in the tRee no Traces left

0 reViving

practicE whetheR meditation or nonmeditation

Pleased

..John Cage

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Or disPleased

won't bUm the metaL ones won't bum

is A is The

Is Of

is emptiNessfullness prActicality

all creatioN enDless

interpenetrAtion whispeRed

Truths the necessity tO find new fonns

of liVing nEw

foRms ofliving together to stoP the estrangement between us

tO overcome the Patriarchal thinking

the aUthoritarian structures and the coLdness

humAn noT togetherness

the necessity tO develop a culture

that coNsciously opposes the ruling culture A culture which we create

we determiNe which overcomes the passive consumers attituDes

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..John Cage

which is not Ruled by profiTeering aesthetic spirit is

as thOugh Visibility

would not hElp as though eveRything that is generally understood

must stoP Only

what one Person alone Understands

heLps All of us how

whaT Is

nOt uNderstood

A mystery is Now necessary

something we Don't of which we cAn't make head oR

Tail a music Of

Variations without rEpetitions

an intRoduction to Pleasure

that has nO need for Proof or ideas or feelings

goal withoUt goaL

And whaT

did i hear

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Or see i caN't be sure it wAs as if

there was Nothing on which to Depend

As if theRe was noThing but in the presence

Of ... niksa gligo wrote from zagreb to say the ugly jugoslaVian war is not

bEtween people it has been bRought about by

that Part Of govemment'n'army that's concerned

with serbian Power let oUr friends

and aLl others know the truth this's not ethnic nor civil wAr

nor differenT ways of thinking this' s an imperialist

pOlitical aggressioN

it's All happeNing in the heart of europe

at the enD of the 20th century possibly bringing About the total disappeaRance

of croaTian state and peOple what did you hear

the pentagon giVing up on thE

Radio soldiers not to be Paid just discharged seven hundred thOusand a great boon

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for unemPloyment do yoU think

we'U finAlly see

unemploymenT's what we've been working

tOwards uNemployment's self-employment At last

we may be doiNg what we the human race coulD be doing

.John Cage

Mlofus Ashesrud suzuki srud theRe seems

To be a tendency towards the good

even thOugh the future is already here many are still liVing

in thE past all goveRnments

are striking examPles Of what's out of date

and inaPpropriate to oUr proper business

our evoLution though there're more of us Ml of us live in

The same place the planet earth there Is

nO differeNce between

whAt happeNs to some of us

anD whAt

happens to the otheRs

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whaTever happens happens tO all of us our problems

are not Various thEy aRe identical

the Purifying Of water' n' air

the Provision of noUrishing food

the deLivery of it to plAces where

iT Is needed Or just desired'

the providiNg of shelter the Availability of eNergy

wherever it is neeDed we hAve

these pRoblems in common we can solve Them all best

withOut thinking of the diVision

of thE woRld

into 153 seParate natiOns

their seParate powers mortally destrUctive

r. buckminster fuLler cAlled iT klllingry

as Opposed to

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liviNgry fuller is deAd

but his spirit is Now more than ever the spirit the worlD needs

it is Alive we have it in his woRk his wriTings

let us nOt forget we are now haVing to

continuE

..John Cage

his woRk in music the absence of conductor score and barline sPaceship earth

human needs and wOrld resources the two kePt in balance

finding changing solUtions for changing probLems

the world gAme Teenagers fuller showed

can play It in Other words

iNtelligence is needed insteAd of politics or lawyers

or eveN the uniteD

nAtions so what's futuRe's

fuTure first the wOrld's prime

Vital problEm is how

to multiply by thRee swiftly safely and satisfYingly Per

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pOund kilowatt and workhour the overall Performance realizations of the world's

comprehensive resoUrces this wiLl render those resources

Able To support

100% of humanity's increasing pOpulace at levels

of physicalliviN g fAr above whatever

has beeN known or imagineD

to sAtisfy the physical will bRing us also

undreamed of meTaphysical capabilities next instead Of ownership

indiVidual 24 hour usE of facilities

caRs cycles Paintings

hOtels telePhones

mUseums hospitaLs

librAries resTaurants

multiplying Of value by time if house's locked

hoNoring its use lAter

wheN house's free opening a Door

with one of those flAt

-HlO

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computeR made keys iT's time validity changed

and then stOpping the remoVal

of fossil fuEls fRom the earth

develoPing sOlar energy

develoPing pneUmatic power

effects of Light Air

eTc reseiVIng

Oil aNd gAs

for a time wheN their use is neeDed in connection with

the initiAtion of a futuRe

Technic third alOng with

the remoVal of nations thE

..John Cage

Removal of schools ivan illich's deschooling society Putting

the prOcess of learning in the hands of the Person who is doing it

compUter faciLities

And ways To contact others old or young who share

your Interests

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studiOs for every kiNd

of Art' r' research iN a

worD utopiA we have only

to make it woRk for every lasT

One of us we begin by belieVing

it can bE done getting Rid

of Pessimism blindly clinging tO

oPtimism in no sense doUbting

the possibiLity of utopiA

buT simply

wanting tO kNow

the detAils of how it will happeN

how Does it begin And

wheRe iT

will nOt happen politically fuller says it will arise due to our Vast

wEalth industRial wealth the tool-organized

caPability tO take energies of the universe which are

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transforming their Patternings in varioUs ways

as yet uncontroLled by humAn beings

so That they go through channels onto the ends of circularly arranged levers

which are invented sO that the eNergy turns

wheels'n'shAfts to do all the work uNiversal energy is inexhaustible

our knowleDge only increAses as does

ouR common wealTh

in Order to bring about continuous eleVation of human dignity

wE will be able to affoRd to give everyone

student fellowshiPs in any subjects they elect

.John Cage

fuller's educatiOn automation everyone's going to study whatever Pleases we're

not needed becaUse of our abiLity to work

As slaves we're needed because of our abiliTy to consume

the chinese nOw have

the most coNsumers they'll eventuAlly produce at the lowest prices

with that competitioN we're going to be forceD

to go into totAl automation full unemployment only to find ouRselves amazingly successful

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wealTh autOmated industry's now world-around

our picture that's now Visibly dEveloping

is woRld us world citizenshiP

will nOt occur as a Political initiative

it will be reqUired by the economics of an expLoding

industriAl world required for iTs personnel

If

picture

everybOdy who teaches school because it's the simplest way of makiNg

A liviNg were given

a well-funDed fellowship to A lifelong

Research would They accept

wOuld they not stop asking how can i make a liVing and start asking what is it

that i lovE that i' m inteRested in

to helP make what could i do

the wOrld work to some more satisfactory more interesting Point

this Used to be a stupid question it suddenLy becomes

A very logical one in 1927 fuller gave up forever The general

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dictum Of society i.e.

that everyoNe to survive must mAke

a liviNg he substituteD the individuAl's

antientRopic responsibliTy in universe

fuller sOught as an indiVidual

.John Cage

for thE tasks needed to be done no one else was doing oR

attemPting tO do which if done

would Physically and economically help society to eliminate pain as a conseqUence it was necessary for him

to discipLine his imAginings invenT

and develop technical and scientific capabilities innOvative

problem solutioNs synergetics he found design strAtegy

for uNiverse humanity chilDren

Advantaging the new life the new intelligence doing moRe

wiTh less ephemeralizatiOn

fuller's reVolution is his plan to changE not us

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but our enviRonment basque friend esther ferrer rePlied by fax i knew her as artist anarchist

i had asked abOut anarchy's future anarchy'll always have a future and a Present she wrote

becaUse it's associated with creativity i don't mean a1t 690

which is somethng eLse iAm i Talk of

creativity in the sense that it cOmes

from rejoiciNg from pleAsure

serviNg first of all the person who practices it unconDitioned

by obligAtions to any one else theRe is

no masTer N except Oneself

anarchy like creatiVity is thus a complEtely

gRatuitous choice which engages only yourself and which you decide to Practice

One could well define anarchy as a Practice of liberty one can practice it

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withoUt others being ito

at aLI interested it does not tAke away from one's own joy That Is

anarchistic thOught is somethiNg out of time even without time

i would even dAre to say

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somethiNg anchoreD in humAn

natuRe There are

.John Cage

Other things anchored in human nature unfortunately and like creatiVity individualistic

and individualizEd this is the souRce of its attractiveness and enormous risk

it is Particularly attractive in periOds as today of loss of

sPirit loss of hope there isn't or doesn't seem to be

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messianic hope to stUff our heads with there is a return to 730

essentiaL things never fAr away because we can

find Them Inside Ourselves

without Needing recourse to ideologists or mAster

thiNkers without neeDing to think outside ourselves our liberty's limited

only by the considerAtion we give otheRs as beings

who also pracTice liberty anarchy is quite simply a prOblem

of assuming indiVidual rEsponsibility it is the idea

that each peRson is an intelligent being caPable

Of making life decisions without delegating

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Overpopulation and Art:

decision making caPacities to someone else whether a god king state party ingenioUs artist master'o'thought mother'r'father 7so

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esther says after aLl Anarchy

really does have The future people are talking

abOut it is creative coNduct

As opposed to subordiNate

conDuct it is positive individuAlism to follow a way of thinking

that pRoposes you can assume for your own acTs

respOnsibility Visibly

rEsponsible fiRst to yourself and then to society after the

unworkability of caPitalism marxism authOritarian socialism anarchy seems for our liberation

to be a Possibility once again as jorge oreiza said to me from failUre

to faiLure right up to the finAl

vicTory I think

nOw of marshall mcluhaN

the world hAs become a siNgle minD

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we hAve extended the centRal nervous

sysTem electrOnics our technology

makes the reVolution for us wE can

change ouR minds we share only one the Planet

the planet has becOme a single Person it is a qUestion

of roLling off A log

conducT creative

0 coNduct

from fAilure to failure aNarchy it promises nothing

minD up to the finAl

victoRy creaTive mind

..John Cage

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john cage overpopulation and art 1

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