notations the cage effect today catalogue
TRANSCRIPT
T h e C a g e e f f e C T T o d ay
NotatioNs
No
tat
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s Th
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cover_9x9_flaps.indd 1 1/30/12 8:04 AM
William anastasi
soledad arias
Céleste Boursier-mougenot
WalterCio Caldas
José damasCeno
Hanne darBoven
mattHeW deleget
liZ desCHenes
Felipe dulZaides
león Ferrari
roBert Filliou
Yukio FuJimoto
niColás guagnini
lYnne HarloW
douglas HueBler
garetH James
david lamelas
reiner leist
Jorge maCCHi
CHristian marClaY
rivane neuensCHWander
kaZ osHiro
edgardo rudnitZkY
Fred sandBaCk
Frank sCHeFFer
usHio sHinoHara
linda stillman
daniel WurtZel
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Notations: The Cage Effect TodayCurated by Joachim Pissarro, together with Bibi Calderaro, Julio Grinblatt, and Michelle Yun
Hunter College/Times Square GalleryFebruary 17-April 21, 2012
HUNTER COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Jennifer J. Raab, PresidentVita Rabinowitz, Provost and Vice President of Academic AffairsErec Koch, Dean, School of Art and SciencesThomas Weaver, Chair of the Department of Art
THE HUNTER COLLEGE ART GALLERIES
Thomas Weaver, Executive DirectorJoachim Pissarro, Bershad Professor of Art History and DirectorKaty Siegel, Chief CuratorMichelle Yun, CuratorKarli Wurzelbacher, Assistant CuratorJessica Gumora, Curatorial Assistant to the DirectorPhi Nguyen, PreparatorTim Laun, MFA Building Studio Director
THE BERTHA AND KARL LEUBSDORF ART GALLERY
Located in the Hunter West Building at the southwest cornerof 68th Street and Lexington AvenueHours: Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 6pmInformation: 212.772.4991
HUNTER COLLEGE/TIMES SQUARE GALLERY
450 West 41st Street between 9th and 10th AvenuesHours: Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 6pmInformation: 212.772.4991
www.hunter.cuny.edu/art/galleries
PHOTO CREDITS
p. 4: Used by permission of C. F. Peters Corporation. All rights reserved. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY
p. 6: Courtesy of the John Cage Trustp. 11: Photo © Albert Mendelewskip. 14: Photo © Loren Robare. Courtesy of the John Cage Trustp. 23: Photo: Jason Mandellap. 25: © Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New Yorkp. 31: © 2012 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NYp. 33: © Matthew Delegetp. 39: Courtesy of Fundación Augusto y León Ferrari and Haunch of Venisonp. 41: © Marianne Filliou. Photo © Philippe Migeat. Courtesy CNAC/MNAM/Dist.
Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NYp. 45: Photo © Jeffrey Sturgesp. 47: © Lynne Harlowp. 49: © 2011 Estate of Douglas Huebler/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NYp. 51: Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis T.B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2009p. 53: © Reiner Leist, Installation view, Museum for Photography Berlin, 2007p. 55: Photo courtesy Jorge Macchi and Galeria Benzacar, Buenos Airesp. 57: © Christian Marclay. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New Yorkp. 59: © Rivane Neuenschwander. Courtesy of Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York;
Fortes Vilaça Gallery, São Paulo; and Stephen Friedman Gallery, Londonp. 61: Photo © Amy Thoner. Courtesy Galerie Frank Elbaz, Parisp. 65: © Estate of Fred Sandback. Courtesy David Zwirner, New Yorkp. 67: © Frank Scheffer. Interview Frank Scheffer with John Cage, August 1987, L.A.p. 69: © Ethan Cohen Fine Artsp. 71: Photo © Michael Fredericksp. 83: Courtesy of the John Cage Trustp. 88: Photo © Henning Lohner. Courtesy of the John Cage Trust
This book was designed by Tim Laun and Natalie WedekingSet in Whitney typeEdited by Claire Barliant and Michelle YunPrinting by GHP Media, West Haven, CTEdition of 1,000
ISBN 978-0-9839261-4-6
Cover image:Soledad Ariasphonetic neon [aha] (detail), 2011White neon40 x 1/2” (101.6 x 0.6cm)Collection of the artistphoto: Jason Mandella
February 17 – April 21, 2012
Curated by Joachim Pissarro, together with Bibi Calderaro, Julio Grinblatt, and Michelle Yun
HUNTER COLLEGE / TIMES SQUARE GALLERY
450 West 41st Street (between Dyer and 10th Avenues)New York, NY
Th e C a g e e f f e C T T o d ay
NotatioNs
John Cage. Untitled (640 numbers between 1 and 16), 1969
Ballpoint pen, pencil, and colored pencil on printed paper
11 x 8 1/2” (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art. The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection Gift
(purchase, and gift, in part, of The Eileen and Michael Cohen Collection)
CoNteNts
Foreword Foreword
Jennifer J. raabPresident, Hunter College
JohN Cage: the Multiple paths JohN Cage: the Multiple paths oF “iNstaNtaNeous eCstasy”oF “iNstaNtaNeous eCstasy”
Joachim pissarroBershad Professor of Art History Director, Hunter College Art Galleries
platesplates
uNder the iNFlueNCe oF CageuNder the iNFlueNCe oF Cage
Julio grinblatt Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art
oN or aBout CagenessoN or aBout Cageness
Bibi Calderaro
CheCklist oF the exhiBitioNCheCklist oF the exhiBitioN
aCkNowledgMeNtsaCkNowledgMeNts
7
8
19
74
78
84
86
John Cage, preparing a piano (c. 1961)
6 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
forewordforeword
on behalf of hunter College, i welcome you to Notations: The Cage Effect Today. as 2012 marks the
centennial of John Cage’s birth, this exhibition serves as a timely platform to examine Cage’s diverse and
widespread influence on contemporary art throughout america, asia, europe and latin america.
the impetus for Notations: The Cage Effect Today came from a graduate seminar on John Cage, taught first
during the spring of 2008 and most recently in fall 2011, by Joachim pissarro, the Bershad professor of art
history and director of the hunter College art galleries. our departments of Music, dance, religion, and
Creative writing helped shape the seminar content in the spirit of Cage’s interdisciplinary approach to art.
in addition, as an integral part of the seminar, our students had an extraordinary opportunity to be involved
in the planning of the exhibition, the selection of its textual elements, and in the writing of essays for the
accompanying catalogue. we are grateful to dr. pissarro, his talented co-curators Julio grinblatt, (MFa ‘10),
Bibi Calderaro, and Michelle yun, and all the Ma and MFa students who assisted in the creation of this
extraordinary exhibition and its catalogue.
over the past several years, hunter College’s art galleries have presented an outstanding series of
exhibitions, providing our graduate students with the unique opportunity to advance their talents as
curators, art critics, and artists while working with the expert faculty of hunter’s department of art.
Notations: The Cage Effect Today exemplifies this unique cross-pollination.
we express our deep appreciation to the exhibit sponsors and lenders whose generosity made
this project possible. thank you for joining us at this exciting exhibition.
Jennifer J. raabpresident, hunter College
7NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
JohN Cage: the Multiple paths oF
“ iNstaNtaNeous eCstasy”By JoaChiM pissarro
In memory of Ralph Kaminsky
8 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
global “experimenTal aCTions”global “experimenTal aCTions”
i dedicate this essay to my students in two seminars i taught on John Cage. the first class (spring of
2008) was co-taught with professor geoffrey Burleson, director of piano studies. while i first discovered
Cage through my abiding interest in Jasper Johns’s and robert rauschenberg’s artistic careers, suddenly
facing the task of teaching a seminar on this unclassifiable musician-artist-thinker-poet-critic-composer-
mycologist was akin to facing an abyss: mesmerizing and scary.
that first class led me to understand that, contrary to my earlier assumptions, John Cage cannot be dealt
with as a normal academic topic, nor, for instance, as an historical epiphenomenon of post-structuralism.
transcending fossilized labels, he continues to be alive in surprising ways, almost like a live wire—through
generations of artists across the globe: this became the stimulus for the present exhibition.
the operations set off by Cage throughout his incredibly rich life of experimentation, reflection, not to
mention his contagious sense of humor, were difficult to convey in the confines of an academic classroom.
there are two simple reasons for this. Cage, in order to do justice to his multifarious and daunting
practices, forces us to think across disciplines, and across continents. the history of the arts (plural) is not
used to thinking in this way; the discipline at large is still divided according to media—and according to
continents (africa, asia, latin america—and europe, the only continent which, for some reason, continues to
be divided up in countries). Cage merrily crossed all such borders—physically, intellectually, artistically. he
was not afraid of disciplines other than his own; in fact, he made almost any artistic discipline his own. From
poetry to music, from drawing and printing to filmmaking, there was not a single form of art that did not offer
some points of fascination to Cage. he was insatiably curious, open-minded, generous beyond words—and
always willing to be challenged intellectually. this was a set of qualities that made him a hero among artists.
art historians continue to find him difficult and challenging, however, because our discipline, still structured
as it was in the 1950s, is not yet equipped to deal with such a phenomenon. For Cage, all of the arts formed a
large, and endlessly fascinating, continuum, each one potentially enriching the other, without any particular
form of art dominating the others. Cage was a true anarchist—artistically speaking.
“Most selflessly . . . he encouraged the youngto discover new directions.”
– John Cage on Henry Cowell1
9NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
similarly, if Cage’s thinking and creative process was induced by cross-fertilization from one artistic
medium to the next, he was also a restless traveler—from one world to the next. this exhibition explores
this aspect of Cage’s personality; it takes us back upon the paths that Cage opened up half a century ago,
and leads us to many different areas where he continues to be such a source of admiration and enablement
among generations of artists. to get a sample of this, we will only cast a brief glance at Cage’s inordinate
capacity to immerse himself in cultures by looking at his presence in Japan first, and then in Brazil.
in fact, the wide diversity of artists presented here, and the multitude of propositions inherent in their
works, made the rich and compelling complexity of “the Cage effect” fully apparent to us. Cage’s unique
sensibility triggered a dynamic still prevalent today, as can be gauged from one room to another in the
present exhibition.
going back to Cage’s inimitably direct and simple prose, an experimental action is “simply an action
the outcome of which cannot be foreseen.”2 in order to test the full measure of these unforeseeable strings
of “outcomes,” we moved to the hunter MFa building on 41st street, in order to physically test how this
risk-taking stance took shape today—how Cage’s acute and deep interest in “next to nothing” (whether in
music, or in any form of expression) was embodied in our MFa students’ daily creative practices. there, the
works by MFa students, Bill abdale, paul helzer, Martin Murphy, arrick underhill, steven rose, austin willis
(as well as Julio grinblatt), to name but a few, convinced me that “the Cage effect” was vibrant and alive in
today’s generation of artists. For all of them and their artistic practices, the presence of Cage was in each case
very different but pivotal—this came as a total surprise to me. Not only did these MFa students articulate
through their artistic practices one or several tropes of Cage’s incredibly complex, and infinitely rewarding
system, but they also produced some memorable essays, together with their Ma and a couple of ph.d.
colleagues: i would like to recognize, among them, Cara Manes, david duncan (both of whom were teaching
assistants in 2008), and lauren pollock. in the end, this class taught me that with Cage (maybe uniquely?),
an intense effort of reflection brings its fullest result only if it is co-extensive with an act of equally intense,
almost physical, engagement in Cage’s own practice. under professor Burleson’s cathartic aegis, we ended
up performing Imaginary Landscape IV (1951) in the west lobby of hunter College on 68th street (possibly
the premiere collaboration at hunter between graduate students from the Music, art history, and studio art
departments).
in his seminal 1961 book, Silence, Cage wrote about this composition:
It is thus possible to make a musical composition the continuity of which is free of individual taste and memory (psychology) and also of the literature and “traditions” of the art. The sounds enter the time-space centered within themselves, unimpeded by the service to any abstraction, their 360 degrees of circumference free for an infinite play of interpenetration. Value judgments are not in the nature of this work as regards either composition, performance, or listening. The idea of relation being absent, anything may happen. A “mistake” is beside the point, for once anything happens it authentically is.3
Cage’s words took on a different resonance (literally) after this performance (which can be
seen on youtube).4
10 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
More recently, in the fall of 2011, i decided to take the discoveries i made with the class of 2008 as the
premise for another Cage seminar—for which renata Contins and alex Niemetz receive here my heartfelt
thanks. this time, we started with the assumption that Cage (far more so than warhol) was the american
artist who first achieved a truly international reputation and a global recognition. his impact on the western
european scene (let alone the rise of Fluxus) needs no more corroboration. his presence in Japan may be a
little less known. his presence on the latin american continent was scarcely known. this exhibition, and its
catalogue, examines Cage’s presence worldwide, and his impact across several generations.
his visit to the dry garden of the ryôan-ji temple in kyoto, in 1962, has drawn ample comments—though
not much in art history.5 in part due to ozu yasujirô’s famous film on the ryôan-ji garden, its impeccably
raked bed of sand and fifteen rocks, this kyoto garden gave rise to a whole western-oriented form of
literature, plotting the tension between the impermanence of the sand versus the solid monumentality of
the rocks. except that, as a young critic from Japan expressed in a seminar on aesthetics at the university
of paris in 2005, these standard western theoretical constructions have very little to do with a Japanese
way of looking and thinking. suzuki yuuko, looking at ozu’s film (which Cage knew well) insists, instead, on
the notion of “continuity of no-continuity.” yuuko refers to ozu’s famous cuts on the kyoto garden as ma-
shots (ma means “interval”). “these disrupt time and space in such a manner that the “rhythm” which they
introduce may not be controlled according to our “normal” ways of reading or phrasing. indeed, when we read
or phrase a sentence or melody, we try to ward off, at least in principle, the irregular and the unpredictable.”6
View of Ryôan-ji dry garden, 15th century, Kyoto
11NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
this is precisely where John Cage comes into it. when he visited ryôan-ji in 1962, he turned to his host and
suggested that if the planes of neatly raked sand were to be taken for the Void, or for infinite emptiness, then
the placement of the rocks could be seen as resulting from chance operations. Cage had inverted the western
perspective on the enigma of this garden and, letting go of the principle of neatly separating the irregular from
the orderly and predictable, invited us to celebrate another reading of ryôan-ji that would yield to irregularity,
permanent unsolvability, and unpredictability, instead of a binary system of oppositions. what is spectacular
about Cage is that, being an american, he was endowed with an infinite capacity to shed any remnant of his
western upbringing, in order to readily adopt other concepts and ways of thinking.
ryôan-ji made an impression on Cage: twenty years later, he took to collecting rocks, finding in them the
same riches as in an exhibition of several works of art. he started drawing, and then published lithographs
of these works; and finally, began composing his “ryôan-ji series.” it consisted of several superimpose-
able “gardens” of sounds for various instruments (flute, oboe, contrabass, voice, and cello), but was left
incomplete when Cage passed away in 1992. this episode only represents but a tiny fragment of Cage’s
intellectual and artistic biography, giving us a sense of the considerable mass of material, works, texts, and
ideas that he left behind.
today, the presence in the exhibition of ushio shinohara, who came into contact with Cage via
rauschenberg and Johns in the early 1960s, and of two artists a generation younger—yukio Fujimoto and kaz
oshiro—whose oeuvres, each with very individual tones, elaborate on the impossible fusion of sound and
sculpture (which are, however, complementary) testify to the richness of Cage’s continuous impact in Japan.
the nature of our knowledge of Cage in Japan was enriched by the welcome publication of a book packed
with facts, archives, and images. this book, by hiroko ikegami, is titled The Great Migrator,7 which might have
been a perfect metaphor for Cage himself, but in this context refers to the figure of robert rauschenberg, who
once told me that Cage had “authorized” him to do things he had not thought possible before. in ikegami’s
book, one attends the spectacle of a double case of authorization: here, in part, rauschenberg (having been
“authorized” to do things unimaginable) in turn authorizes a new generation of Japanese artists (among them
shinohara) who ipso facto test the ground that rauschenberg laid in front of them. this, in truth, is a perfect
case of compounded “experimentation” in the Cagean definition.
while examining the global effects of Cage today, the most obvious case of gaining new knowledge
through this last seminar came from our immersion in Cage and latin america. here, i would like to thank
those colleagues and friends who have contributed to this reflection on the presence of John Cage in the
latin american art scene. Bibi Calderaro, renata Contins, professor Julio grinblatt, adjunct professor of
art, professor harper Montgomery, the patricia phelps de Cisneros professor of latin american art, and all
the students who delved into this theme through class here receive my profuse thanks. a lecture given by
professor Montgomery on Cildo Meireles and Cage was one of the highlights of that semester—and opened
up new perspectives to think afresh about contemporary latin american art, but also hinted at other possible
directions of focus within the Cage studies.
12 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
i believe that we have only begun to scratch the surface of a whole new field of research that indicates,
again in both directions, Cage’s abiding interest in the latin american continent, and the unexpectedly
high number of living artists, coming from different generations, who continue to explore through their own
practices a particular Cagean problematic. once, when struck by the number of artists who have found
Cage conducive to their own research, i asked professor grinblatt why so many artists are looking at Cage in
Brazil—he answered without even a blink: “the entirety of Brazil is Cagean!”
in 1963, the musicians damiano Cozzela, rogério duprat, Júlio Medaglia, gilberto Mendes, and willy
Corrêa de oliveira, launched the Musica Nova, and composed a manifesto declaring “their total commitment
to the contemporary world.” through the Não Música Nova Festival, they introduced Cage’s compositions
(among other notorious european or american experimental composers) to the Brazilian public. they also
gave “the Cage effect” a distinctly political and radical inflection, and shared this characteristic with many
artists who developed an interest in him throughout the latin american continent—which could only happily
suit Cage, given his repeated intentions to “demilitarize language” and his close ties with anarchism.
But, as with all things Cagean, surprise has been the most consistent thread of our research. Bibi
Calderaro, renata Contins, and i (almost on the same day, but independently) came to realize that one of
the big attractions of John Cage to Brazil was concrete poetry, namely through the agency of augusto de
Campos. i quote an email from Calderaro, dated November 15, 2011:
On Friday I attended a conference by the translator and scholar of Augusto de Campos, his name is Charles Perrone from Univ. of Florida. When I approached him to tell him about our show, he proclaimed: “you must include Augusto in the show!” and “I have footage of Augusto embracing John when he came to São Paulo...”
Marjorie perloff, however, was one of the first authors to have pointed out that one of the ties between
Cage and Brazil was mainly through poetry, and namely “the Brazilian Noigandres group (augusto de
Campos, haroldo de Campos, and decio pignatari), with whom he shared many aesthetic principles and who
have assiduously translated and disseminated his writings.”8
But while the link with Brazilian concrete poetry existed, the relationship between Meireles and Cage,
for instance, had not elicited much study: it is very likely that concrete poetry, and more specifically the
Noigandres, provided the link that tended to make Cage so widely known in Brazil. according to concrete
poetry—augusto de Campos’s Luxo (1965) or pignatari’s Beba coca cola (1957)—an image replete in the
works by Meireles—the visual predominates, whereas with Cage, it is always the aural that has the upper
hand. perloff further explains:
However visually striking Cage’s verbal scores may be, the mesostic column creating an interesting pattern and the punctuation marks of the original often strewn around the page, as in Roaratorio, poetic density depends primarily on sound, as actualized in performance. Cage was, after all, a composer even when the materials he worked with were linguistic rather than musical.9
despite (or maybe because of) the differences in their poetic practices, Cage and de Campos remained
close. de Campos is responsible for a vast effort of translation of Cage in Brazilian portuguese, and,
13NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
undeniably, acted as an important cultural bridge that permitted the dissemination of Cagean aesthetics. it is
interesting to think that the first emergence of John Cage in latin america would have been first and foremost
through his interest in poetry.
this gives us a brief aperçu of the phenomenal diversity of interests that John Cage pursued, and begins
to give us a sense of the multiple directions that Cage explored through his career, with a degree of openness,
curiosity, and generosity that is a very rare attribute.
this very fast and too short survey of the expansive presence of Cage almost all over the globe and
through so many different media, and artistic practices, also explains the considerable diversity of artists who
responded in singular ways to the “the Cage effect.”
John Cage during the performance of How to Get Started, 1989
14 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
beginnings ends beginningsbeginnings ends beginnings
strictly speaking, the present exhibition is not about Cage, but about Cage’s “effect” on the contemporary
art scene globally. i would like, however, to say a few words about a period of Cage’s work that is not much
spoken about: the end. three years before his death, John Cage appeared in an interactive performance,
planned for a sound design conference in Nicasio, California.12 one ought to be careful when using
the word “planned” while referring to John Cage: indeed, what was planned actually never happened.
instead, a performance that had not been planned took place.
here is Cage (in the photograph on the left), now seventy-seven years old—not exactly a beginner
anymore—about to begin a performance of How To Get Started. the marks of his jovial, generous, often
infectious, laughter are indelibly etched on his wrinkled, yet youthful face. there is something deep,
grave, and light-hearted at the same time about his facial expression: as if nothing had ever begun, or as if
everything was just about to get started. perhaps, yes, after seventy-seven years, things were only just about
to get started—and starting something is, at any given point, daunting.
or, was he thinking that, in the end, it is the end of one’s life that brings forth the beginning? i never
thought of John Cage and georg wilhelm hegel as having much in common, but in The Phenomenology of
the Spirit, hegel says something that sounds oddly Cagean. the true, says hegel, “is the process of its own
becoming, the circle that presupposes its end as its goal, having its end also as its beginning; and only by
being worked out to its end, is it actual.”13 or again, hegel resumes the same metaphor, that of “the circle
that returns into itself, the circle that presupposes its beginning and reaches it only at the end.”14 this last
sentence could read as the legend for the photograph above. it is echoed by Cage:
A finished work is exactly that, requires resurrection.15
we will not know what Cage was thinking that day, but this moving photograph shows us the aging John
Cage, with a deep air of gravity, as if he was experiencing some stage fright, as if this new beginning (one
of many thousands of beginnings in his incredibly rich and fertile career) was his first. this is certainly an
and what is the be-ginning of nomiddles meanings and endings? and what is the ending of no
beginnings middles and meanings ?10
– John Cage
“we’re here together, so begin!”11
– Goethe
15NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
important aspect of the legacy of John Cage today: each time one stands on a stage, sits in front of one’s
canvas, looks in the lens of one’s camera, is always for the first time—ever—to experience “art for the
now-moment”:
This is the very nature of the dance, of the phenomenon of music, or any other art requiring performance of music, or any other art requiring performance (for this reason, the term “sand painting” is used: there is a tendency in painting (permanent pigments), as in poetry (printing, binding), to be secure in the thingness of a work, and thus to overlook, and place nearly insurmountable obstacles in the path of, instantaneous ecstasy.16
this emphasis on the creative unit (any, and all creative instants) as a prime point of departure is a
shibboleth with Cage:
We are, as Gertrude Stein said, the oldest country of the twentieth century. And I like to add: in our way of knowing newness.17
Each act is virgin, even the repeated one, to refer to René Char’s thought.18
and when he refers to painters, he quotes paul klee, for instance:
“I want to be as though new-born, knowing nothing, absolutely nothing about Europe.”19
or de kooning:
“The past does not influence me; I influence it.”20
the exhibition Notations: The Cage Effect Today, takes account of this fact—that beginnings and ends are
inherently (if not dialectically) interwoven. as we are celebrating John Cage’s one hundreth anniversary, it
is fitting to observe that what he had started—and what he kept starting for about six decades of assiduous,
and relentless inventive creation, has never stopped starting, and is about to get started again. Beginning and
end mutually inform each other: younger and older artists, from all over, are picking up where Cage left off.
the one hundreth anniversary of his birth coincides with the twentieth anniversary of his death, as if Cage
had meant to conceive of his own biological cycle itself as a smooth, seamless continuum. after twenty years
of his absence being felt in the art world, his presence is, oddly enough, also noticeable through younger
generations of artists who have been deeply impacted in their practices and often in their lives by the Cage
phenomenon. ironically, Cage has never been more alive than today—through generations of artists, all over
the globe, who have been tenaciously exploring some of the tropes that Cage left behind.
let us return to How To Get Started. the piece consisted of an interactive performance between Cage and
two electronic musicians whom Cage carefully thanks (using the future tense): “and i’m about to be grateful
to two others: dennis leonard and Bob schumacher.”
Cage had ten sheets of things written in front of him.
Some of these sheets—there are ten—I’ve jotted down ideas that I’ve had for a long time. And others are things that—most of them are things that have happened to me recently. I’m not going to read them in the order that I wrote them, nor am I going to read them. I’m going to use them as the basis for a kind of improvisation.21
16 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
while Cage read (but didn’t really read) the first sheet that chance presented him, leonard and
schumacher recorded his voice, and then went on layering his voice as he was continuing to read (or not
read) his ten sheets of notes.
as aaron levy and laura kuhn put it,22 “this amounted to an experiment having to do with thinking in
public, before a live audience.”23
the present exhibition very much tests the possibilities, and the promises, laid out by this program: an
experiment having to do with thinking in public, before a live audience. the hypothesis of the seminar was to
demonstrate that Cage was the first american artist who acquired a truly global dimension.
Closer even to his very end, literally a few months before his death, Cage began to tackle a medium he
had never touched before: film. he certainly knew a lot about film very early on. he famously met Marcel
duchamp when the two artists were invited to collaborate on hans richter’s 1947 film, Dreams that Money
can Buy. in 1949, in an enlightening text titled “Forerunners of Modern Music,” he opposes those who practice
synthetic music working with magnetic wires (e.g., Norman Mclaren) versus those who use film as a support:
Twenty-four or n frames per second is the “canvas” upon which this music is written; thus, in a very obvious way, the material itself demonstrates the necessity for time (rhythmic) structure.24�
exactly fifteen years later, andy warhol would push the fullest implication of this analysis in film, and
create Empire (1964), arguably one of the most Cagean films, by setting the camera on an immobile tripod
while the lens focused on the empire state building. as if having read Cage’s remark about “the necessity for
time (rhythmic) structure,” warhol decided to twist the normal length from twenty-four frames per second to
sixteen frames per second—the whole film lasting eight hours and five minutes—and the decision to reduce
the rolling speed of the film by a quarter (twenty-four to sixteen frames per minute) was, almost perversely,
practically unnoticeable given that the film fixes on a motionless subject: the empire state Building.
Cage, despite his early interest in film—and having often appeared in films directed by others—never
grappled himself with this medium, until 1992, the year of his death. the introduction to his film on the
ubuweb website reads:
John Cage created his only feature-length film in the year he died. A sublime performance for camera-person and light, One11 is a film without subject, in black and white. There is light but no persons, no things, no ideas about repetition and variation. The final impression is of another, timeless place—freely roaming the clouds or, perhaps, under the sea. Chance operations were used with respect to the lighting, camera shots and the editing of the film. The light environment was designed and programmed by John Cage and Andrew Culver. The orchestral work 103 musically accompanies One11. Like the film, 103 is 90-minutes long, divided into seventeen parts—its density varies from solos, duos, trios to full orchestral tuttis.25
the film is very beautiful—the projection of light roaming around on white walls of a white room,
randomly, and with no anchoring spatial point, has a spectral and daunting quality. what is extraordinary
about it is that Cage, coming to the end of his life—and a very long career—seems to want to take us back
to the very beginning of things. the film is accompanied by 103, a composition created independently of the
film that is also ninety minutes long. it recalls Cage’s early work: a full orchestra performs the score, which
17NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
includes instrumentation for solos, duets, and trios. yet, somehow, neo-romantic undertones can be detected
in this composition having very little to do with the type of compositions Cage was creating at the end of
his life. Cage seems to rewind his life back to the early days when he was studying under arnold schönberg.
these beautiful chords, together with the minimal yet highly poetic beam of light dancing on the walls of the
room, carry together a magical effect. this is what Cage had to say about this:
Of course the film will be about the effect of light in an empty space. But no space is actually empty and the light will show what is in it. And all this space and all this light will be controlled by random operations.26�
the film One11 will open a program of films at hunter, organized in concert with our colleagues from the
Film department, that will include a series of works by artists who follow suit with Cage with this medium,
such as rivane Neuenschwander’s quasi-magical and ever-so-subtle Inventory of small deaths (blow) (2000),
an approximately five-minute odyssey of a bubble floating through a landscape.
John Cage was quoted as saying that he hoped that, through this film, viewers would be led to find
themselves. it is our hope that going through the present exhibition, viewers will find themselves on the path
that Cage began to pave for them.
1 John Cage, “History of Experimental Music in the United States,”
Silence: Lectures and Writings (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan
University Press, 1961), 71.
2 Silence, 69.
3 Silence, 59.
4 The recording of our performance in 2008 at Hunter College/
CUNY can be found on YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=A0BNsBlzQII)
5 See Daniel Charles, “Shattering Representation From
Landscape to Soundscape : Cage/Japan,” in Cycnos, volume
20 no. 2, June 25, 2005, http://revel.unice.fr/cycnos/index.
html?id=77
6 Ibid.
7 Hiroko Ikegami, The Great Migrator: Robert Rauschenberg and
the Global Rise of American Art (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2010) 153 – 203. See in particular chapter 4, “A Dialogue in
Tokyo: Rauschenberg Meets the Japanese Avant-Garde.”
8 Marjorie Perloff, The Music of Verbal Space: John Cage’s “What
You Say,” http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/perloff/cage.
html
9 Ibid.
10 John Cage, “Lecture on Something,” Silence.
11 Goethe, Faust (New York: Anchor Books, 1989) c. 1961,
I.ii.263.
12 “Sound Design: An Invitational Conference on the Uses of
Sound for Radio Drama, Film, Video, Theater and Music”
presented by Bay Area Radio Drama at Sprocket Systems,
Skywalker Ranch, in Nicasio, California. 1989.
13 Hegel, G.W.F, The Phenomenology of Spirit, trans. A.V. Miller.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977), 10.
14 Ibid., 488.
15 Cage, Silence, 64.
16 Ibid., 65.
17 Ibid., 73.
18 Ibid., 36.
19 Ibid., 65.
20 Ibid., 67. Cage refers here to a discussion following a talk
Willem de Kooning gave at the Art Alliance in Philadelphia.
21 Cage, “Introduction,” August 31, 1981,
http://www.howtogetstarted.org/introduction.php?PHPSESSI
D=626f9a8309beb1b2def6e0a0704245f5
22 “John Cage: How To Get Started,”
http://www.howtogetstarted.org/cage.php
23 Ibid.
24 Silence, 65.
25 Ubu Web, http://www.ubu.com/film/cage_one11.html
26 Ibid.
18 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
William anastasi 20
soledad arias 22
Céleste Boursier-mougenot 24
WalterCio Caldas 26
José damasCeno 28
Hanne darBoven 30
mattHeW deleget 32
liZ desCHenes 34
Felipe dulZaides 36
león Ferrari 38
roBert Filliou 40
Yukio FuJimoto 42
niColás guagnini & garetH James 44
lYnne HarloW 46
douglas HueBler 48
david lamelas 50
reiner leist 52
Jorge maCCHi 54
CHristian marClaY 56
rivane neuensCHWander 58
kaZ osHiro 60
edgardo rudnitZkY 62
Fred sandBaCk 64
Frank sCHeFFer 66
usHio sHinoHara 68
linda stillman 70
daniel WurtZel 72
plates
19NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
W i l l i a m a n as tas i W i l l i a m a n as tas i
b. 1933 philadelphia, pa. lives and works in new york, ny
william anastasi’s Sink involves a simple action that turns into a meditation. a humble thick steel
slab occupies the floor; the repetitive (daily) ritual of watering this slab ends up producing a rich,
variagated patina. the accompanying artist’s instructions read: “set a rectangular piece of hot-
rolled carbon steel level on floor. pour on it a measure of tap water so that the resulting pond holds
its position short of overflow. each time the water evaporates, repeat.” 1 the work occurs on the
molecular level, but also in the tending of the piece itself. the physicality of Sink has to do with
chemistry in service to aesthetics. yet the true potency of the work happens through the measure of
time, tracked by the evaporating water and the interaction between the art object and its caretakers.
the artist clears a space for this quiet collaboration to occur.
Sink consists of an edition of four, and it is of no small significance that one found its way into the
collection of John Cage and Merce Cunningham. indeed, the devotional and softly intimate nature
of Sink speaks to Cage’s sensibilities. one can find echoes of Chinese gongshi—those scholars’
rocks that deeply fascinated Cage, whose contours and capillaries are formed by river water working
their surfaces over decades and centuries. likewise, the deft tending of Japanese bonsai, and the
composition of Zen rock gardens also conjure up anastasi’s Sink. in each of these instances, objects
are seen absorbing the impact of nature and time, without any human intention, other than setting
up a context (such as placing the steel plate in a room and watering it). d.t. suzuki, Cage’s mentor
and professor of Zen Buddhism, comments on eastern mysticism as being “the ‘silence of thunder,’
obtained in the midst of the flash and uproar of opposing electric currents.”2 this is a quiet and
contemplative site charged with the electric locus of ontological presence.
anastasi’s Sink implies such a dual nature. “sink” is a noun; a basin and a receptacle of water, but also
a verb; the action of descending below, somewhat tragically. anastasi’s Sink is a noun in its status as
art object, yet a verb in its constant flux and oxidation. the conditions of the work are anastasi’s: he
set up and wrote the instructions. yet the incarnation, and the constant, slow, gradual transformation
of the work belong to the caretaker of the piece watering and monitoring the metal as well as the
chemical impact on the molecular chains of its surface. the work only performs its function over
time, through change and chance, through discourse between materiality and constancy; no wonder
Cage wanted to have it. Just as a scholar’s rock is only realized after centuries of slow unnoticeable
“sculpting” by nature, so too does anastasi’s Sink require the patience of attentive care and the
passage of time.
Zachary Hale
Notes
1 http://www.williamanastasi.net/Mainframe.htm
2 shamansun.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/d-t-suzuki-on-eastern-mysticism
Sink, 1963
rusted steel, water
20 x 20 x 1/2” (50.8 x 50.8 x 1.3cm)
Collection of Michael straus
20 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
s o l e da d a r i as s o l e da d a r i as
b. buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in new york, ny
soledad arias works in a variety of media including neon, prints, installations, and interventions.
she is interested in exploring human relationships towards different modes of communication. By
combining visual effects with sounds and phonetics, she activates a multi-sensory experience, and
challenges conventional perceptions of language.
the artist began working on the ongoing “white neon” series (2002–present) shortly after receiving
her Masters of Fine arts from the school of Visual arts in New york City. Just as John Cage created
drawings to illustrate his compositions, arias’s “white neon” series transforms specific words and
phrases by emphasizing their graphic properties. arias explains, “i expose the intersection of the
aural and the visual, one where words, text, and involuntary sounds are transformed into a visible
form.”1 in doing so, arias imbues the words with an expressive physicality, and these light installations
connect a signifier (the word) and the signified (its inherent meaning) with a third component—the
word as an aesthetic object, with a haptic attribute.
in addition, the activity of reading/seeing/touching these word-objects activates their sound element.
Cage reinvented our experience and understanding of music by embracing everyday sound as part
of his compositions: think of Water Walk (1959), for instance. arias proposes an alternative method
of relating to words and narrative by highlighting their physical nature. as Cage stated, “what was
needed in music when i came along was the necessity of being physical about hearing.”2 these few
words aptly describe the essence of arias’s art practice.
however, arias presents this physicality in a most fundamental form. in contrast to Bruce Nauman’s
neon phrases, for instance, tantalizing with their bright colors and swirling shapes, arias’s neon texts
are monochromatic and linear, oddly serene, and restrained. this ensures an unmediated relationship
between artwork and viewer and offers the possibility to assess the word individually, as well as to
question the way in which it functions within a larger social and cultural context.
arias highlights the manner in which people think about and relate to language. her work offers a
multi-dimensional didactic interpretation that alludes to the expansive possibility of meaning, and in
this way opens our minds to explore further how we mean what we mean.
Claire Breukel
Notes
1 Interview with the artist, October 19, 2011.
2 (Roth and Roth, pp 80-81).
phonetic neon [aha], 2011
white neon
40 x 1/4” (101.6 x 0.6cm)
Collection of the artist
22 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
phonetic neon [aha], 2011
white neon
40 x 1/4” (101.6 x 0.6cm)
Collection of the artist
C é l e s t e B o u r s i e r- m o u g e n ot C é l e s t e B o u r s i e r- m o u g e n ot
b. 1961 nice, france. lives and works in sète, france
French composer and artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot creates situations where sonic events take
visual form or, conversely, where visual information is expressed acoustically—a highly Cagean
conundrum. in his sound environments, Boursier-Mougenot extracts the musical potential of
everyday objects by creating systems and rules for musical situations to generate and sustain
themselves.
Following in the tradition of Marcel duchamp’s readymades, Boursier-Mougenot elevates the role
of an ordinary object. Following in the tradition of John Cage, he explores each of these objects’
ability to produce unexpected sounds. in his piece indexes (v. 1) (2012), included in this exhibition,
a grand piano is rigged to play in response to a live internet feed of stock market data from business
news and financial information websites around the world. this piece is an iteration of index (v. 1-4,)
an earlier series of works in which the piano sonically transcribed transmissions of the keyboard
tapping of museum or gallery employees typing at their desks. the most recent version, created for
two grand pianos, was exhibited at eMpaC (the experimental Media and performing arts Center) with textual material
provided by staff members working in their offices, out of sight of gallery visitors. in indexes (v. 1) the artist reconfigures a
traditional instrument by inserting a software system of his own design, much as John Cage did decades earlier with his
prepared piano compositions. the software that Boursier-Mougenot wrote links linguistic properties to musical properties,
translating letters and phrases into pitch, repetition, and chords.
Boursier-Mougenot does not compose musical scores, but rather provides opportunities and systems in which musical
arrangements may occur. in his untitled pool series (1998-2002), each installation consists of a blue inflatable children’s
wading pool filled with water in which china dishes and bowls, glassware and miscellaneous porcelain float. the water
circulates by a pump and sustains a consistent temperature of approximately 30 degrees celsius so as to increase the
potential sonic reverberation of the items. the half-water-filled pieces of china swirl and gently collide with one another,
creating a soothing and meditative sonorous environment. the different pools in any one series are made up of the same
type and number of technical components—inflatable swimming pool, pump, water-heater system—and also a collection
of dishware that, although similar in appearance, has been chosen for its unique sound quality and the pitch of the note it
produces when struck. No two installations sound alike.
Boursier-Mougenot places equal importance on the sounds created by the objects and on the transformation of the
objects by the sounds they make. in the series from here to ear (2007–2012), Boursier-Mougenot positioned amplified
electric guitars horizontally in a gallery space filled with finches, whose gentle landing on the strings created a soundscape
in which viewers were surrounded by the birds and discordant noises from the instruments. By rejecting a traditional
musical performance, the artist placed the viewer at the center of a chorus of guitars, so to speak, in order to create a
nonhierarchical experience of the piece. in this way, Boursier-Mougenot blurs the boundary between music and “sculpture
as living sound.”
Misa Jeffereis
indexes (v. 1), 2012
pleyel piano p190 with pianodisc system,
computer and software
74 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 40 1/2” (189.2 x 151.1 x 102.9cm)
installation view, “index, virus, solidvideo, detail,”
paula Cooper gallery, New york, Ny (3/19 – 4/25/09)
Courtesy of the artist and paula Cooper gallery, New york
24 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
indexes (v. 1), 2012
pleyel piano p190 with pianodisc system,
computer and software
74 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 40 1/2” (189.2 x 151.1 x 102.9cm)
installation view, “index, virus, solidvideo, detail,”
paula Cooper gallery, New york, Ny (3/19 – 4/25/09)
Courtesy of the artist and paula Cooper gallery, New york
Wa lt e r C i o C a l das Wa lt e r C i o C a l das
b. 1946 rio de Janeiro, brazil. lives and works in rio de Janeiro
waltercio Caldas does not wish to distance himself from art historical icons. Quite the contrary.
he willfully and playfully maintains an active dialogue with classical and modern works, namely by
Marcel duchamp, giorgio Morandi, and Man ray, among others.1
Caldas’s work is founded in Neo-Concretism, a movement that began in Brazil in 1959 by rejecting
Concretism, which was committed to non-figurative geometric art. Neo-Concretism not only sought
to reevaluate the principles on which concrete art had been founded, but it “rescued subjectivity,
affirmed the presence of the arts, and turned the public into the subject of aesthetic actions, calling
for a ‘life experience’ that would conform to art itself.”2
Combining disparate mediums, Caldas ruptures any traditional definition of sculpture by allowing
his work to oscillate between two-dimensionality and three-dimensionality; drawing and sculpture;
absence and presence; accessing the void, and presenting an illusion of reality. his sculptures appear
to activate objects between spaces, as well as spaces between objects—hovering between pure objectality and spatiality: “i would like to produce an
object with the maximum presence and the maximum absence,” he once said.3 his structures loom large as they define wide areas of space, and yet,
are made with scant material given the amount of square footage they occupy. instead of merely presenting objects, Caldas says about his works that
they evoke “sculptural moments.” as agnaldo Farias writes, these moments “remind us of how Caldas’s objects invade their surrounding territory,
virtually pervading the invisible and silent air trapped in between things that we casually call ‘emptiness.’”4
this tension between presence and absence, fullness and emptiness, conjures up Cagean notions of music as organized noise and silence, both
inherently bound with each other through a carefully structured concept of duration. although Caldas’s O transparente (The Transparent [from the
Veneza Series]) is decidedly hollow, with no tangible core, no palpable substance, it is far from empty. the structure holds up these tensions and
contradictions to the viewer who may choose to look at the object, or alternatively (but not simultaneously) look through the object,
as the title suggests.
O transparente (The Transparent [from the Veneza Series]) embodies the artist’s mandate of creating “maximum presence” and “maximum absence”
at the same time; it can also be interpreted as a reference to duchamp’s sculptures of etched and imaged glass (such as Large Glass and Small Glass).
the steel structures, reminiscent of a giorgi Morandi still life in terms of their sober and direct forms, offers a launching pad from which the viewer
can explore the framed transparency. Farias aptly notes that “inside Caldas’s artistic universe, ‘absence’ and ‘presence’ become interchangeable, in
the same way that music intertwines with silence.”5 Just as Cage drew attention to silence as an indispensable, and indeed, enjoyable component of
his compositions, deserving as much consideration as sound, Caldas calls attention to transparency. transparency is no longer merely the absence of
material but acquires, at the artist’s hand, the same density—and power of fascination—as steel and glass, or any other medium.
Claire Bergeal
Notes
1 Alicia Murria, “Let the Object become intermingled with the situation it creates.” Artecontexto, no. 20. 2008, 44.
2 Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, et al., The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps Cisneros Collection (Austin: Blanton Museum of Art,
University of Texas at Austin, 2007), 58.
3 Guy Brett, et al., Transcontinental: An Investigation of Reality: Nine Latin American Artists (London; New York: Verso, 1990), 70.
4 Gary Dufour, et al., Out of Place. (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1993), 22.
5 Ibid, 30.
O transparente (da serie Veneza)
(The Transparent [from the Veneza Series]), 1997
stainless steel and acrylic over glass
79 1/8 x 59 7/8 x 59 7/8” (201 x 152 x 152cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
26 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
O transparente (da serie Veneza)
(The Transparent [from the Veneza Series]), 1997
stainless steel and acrylic over glass
79 1/8 x 59 7/8 x 59 7/8” (201 x 152 x 152cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
J o s é da m as C e n o J o s é da m as C e n o
b. 1968 rio de Janeiro, brazil. lives and works in rio de Janeiro
a primary theme of damasceno’s work is the reification of space: his manipulation of negative space
through the careful arrangement and accumulation of objects makes palpable that which is usually
unseen and taken for granted as empty. Just as there is no such thing as true “silence,” (one of
Cage’s foremost concepts), nor can space ever be full: it is always activated by the way in which it is
occupied. space, in damasceno’s hands, is never a passive void either. Viewers are always aware of
themselves in relation to the work, heightening their own consciousness in the act of seeing.
damasceno’s piece titled Step by Step (2006) provides an interesting example of this concretization
of space. in this work, a dance is transformed into sculpture, with each step recorded in place by a
marble footprint. as the absent dancer’s movements are tracked across the floor, the footprints begin
to pile up, one on top of another as a record of the utilization of space. in this exhibition, damasceno’s
work again toys with our relationship to the space, and the manner in which it is inhabited. in 2 estudos
sobre 1 dimensão perdida (2 Studies on 1 Lost Dimension), a small iron table lies on its side on the floor.
extending from each of its points, a line is drawn through space and anchored to the wall, suspending
it in a state of both tension and rest. referencing perspectival rendering from the renaissance, this
simple gesture draws attention to the way in which we understand objects in terms of dimensionality.
perspectival drawing is utilized as a means for depicting three dimensions on a two-dimensional
surface, and in this piece we are presented with the inversion of that mechanism. here, the three-
dimensional object becomes a two-dimensional abstraction, subverting and thus reinforcing our
awareness of the space and the manner in which we negotiate it. Just as Cage’s composition 4’33”
redefined the concept of silence, damasceno’s work operates to transfigure space, making palpable
that which is unseen.
Annie Wischmeyer
2 estudos sobre 1 dimensão perdida
(2 Studies on 1 Lost Dimension), 1996
iron and elastic cord
installation dimensions approximately
7’ 7” x 15’ 10” x 35’ (230 x 482 x 1080cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
28 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
H a n n e da r B ov e n H a n n e da r B ov e n
b. 1941 munich, germany. d. 2009 hamburg, germany
german artist hanne darboven moved to New york in 1966, where she soon met artist sol lewitt
and critic lucy lippard among many others. New york was then the cradle of Minimalism and
Conceptual art. darboven began creating works on graph paper, developing her own very particular
use of the calendar as a foundation for much of her future work. her daily practice of writing is
characterized by her extremely disciplined work ethic. Creation for darboven was not fueled by any
kind of personal pathos, but by a steadfast, continuous, seemingly unstoppable application of her
inner logic to create Schreibzeit— “writing time.” this daily grind directly echoes John Cage’s own
daily practice and more—it highlights their shared values: indifference, pushing aside the ego, in an
attempt to close the gap between art and life. as we know with Cage, his artistic practice and value
of such goals were developed through his dedicated study of Zen Buddhism. darboven, speaking in
terms that evoke this kind of spiritual investment, once said: “i have a clear conscience; i have written
my thousand pages. in the sense of this responsibility—work, conscience, fulfillment of duty—i am no
worse a worker than someone who has built a road.”1 indeed, the abundance of her work captures the feel of time passing,
the accretion of every square inch of her diaristic activities, indeed, much like that of a builder of a road—thousands of miles long.
ungraspable time is a looming motif in darboven’s works, and in turn her works feel disorienting and seemingly endless—almost like the sight of
a highway crossing a desert. she began her studies as a music student who played piano and ended her career by translating her number-based
pieces into musical notation. her relationship of time to music was constant throughout her life, and ties her practice closely with Cage. she turned
to mathematical writing as a “highly abstract language functioning in an entirely self-referential manner.”2 this lines up with Minimalist ideals of
the time. Kulturgeschichte 1880-1983 (Cultural History 1880–1983) is darboven’s most colossal and all-encompassing work, comprising around 1,589
identically sized sheets of paper and 19 sculptural objects. the work is not easy to take in. the viewer must submit to her inability to fully grasp the
work in its entirety, particularly without access to the codes required to make sense of it, in order to enjoy the work. Cage too, loved confronting
the limits of his listeners’ graspability—his orchestration of erik satie’s famous piece Vexations (1893), in which a “short” piano composition is
successively repeated 840 times, culminating in a performance lasting on average up to eighteen hours, offers a good example of this. darboven’s
II-b, in comparison, is intimate: it is only comprised of only twenty-eight panels; however through her obsessive dedicated repetition, the drawings
coalesce into a small ocean of methodical waves.
Much of Cage’s work functioned the same way: having long abandoned schönberg’s twelve-tone system, he left the listener to wrestle with various
sounds, unaided by any traditional hierarchical context. “New music: new listening. Not an attempt to understand something that is being said, for, if it
were being said, the sounds would be given the shapes of words,” Cage said. “Just an attention to the activity of sounds.”3 For Cage this was achieved
through severe reduction, an opening up or emptying out, so that the world could rush in. For darboven it was about turning inward, overwhelming
instead through her mass output of production. in the end, both gave the audience the space to build their own understanding
out of a feeling of dislocation.
Tryn Collins
Notes
1 Petra Stegman, “Hanne Darboven: Discipline and Obsession,” Artist Portrait: Culturebase.net.
http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?4060
2 Lynne Cooke, “Introduction,” Dia Art Foundation Website http://www.diaart.org/exhibitions/introduction/80
3 John Cage. Silence: Lectures and Writings (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), 10.
II-b, 1970–73
ink and typewriting on twenty-eight
pieces of paper
28 panels: each 11 1/2 x 33” (29.3 x 83.8cm)
the Museum of Modern art.
gift of ileana sonnabend
30 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
m at t H e W d e l e g e t m at t H e W d e l e g e t
b. 1972 hammond, in. lives and works in new york, ny
Cage’s use of systems and chance operations was a means by which he could divest his work of self-
expression, preferring to let sounds be themselves, and ever fearful to have them bear the burden of
carrying some meaning. Cage let go of the romantic notion of the artist’s hand: aesthetic decisions
should have nothing to do with the artist.
taking up this mantle, Matthew deleget writes: “i am decidedly unromantic… it is all a means to
an end.” his approach to his work is straightforward—paint is used straight from the tube without
any kind of emotional underpinning—and applied without any romantic posturing. Cleansed of any
expressionistic content, his work turns into an investigation of reductive abstraction and its capacity
as a vehicle for meaning—or lack of.
in Monochrome (Sleeper Cells) (2007), deleget uses the same white paint of the gallery walls and a
roller to paint over a trio of mirrored paper surfaces. inspired by the slapdash over-painting of graffiti
by landlords hasty to obliterate the illicit signatures of street artists, deleget turns the gesture on
himself. in an act of artistic self-effacement, or rather defacement, deleget circumvents any attempt
to read expressive content in the work. a coat of white paint denies the reflection of the mirrored
surface save for edges that peek from underneath serving only as a reminder of what is being rejected.
the surface that had served as a mirror for both the artist and world is here rendered mute and
impassive. refusing to divulge any information, these paintings offer instead only a stoic silence.
or, in the words of Cage: “i have nothing to say and i’m saying it.”
Annie Wischmeyer
Monochrome (Sleeper Cells), 2007
latex paint on mirrored paper, and silver pushpins
40” x 8 ‘ 4” (101.6 x 254 cm) overall,
each panel 40 x 32” (101.6 x 81.3 cm)
Courtesy of alejandra Von hartz gallery, Miami, Fl
32 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
l i Z d e s C H e n e s l i Z d e s C H e n e s
b. 1966 boston, ma. lives and works in new york, ny
Tilt/Swing (360° field of vision, version 2) is a series of six photograms—semi-reflective, imageless
rectangles configured in a 360° viewing plane. deschenes exposed photosensitive paper outside after
dusk and brought the sheets indoors before sunrise. the sheets of paper captured nothing but the
near-total darkness to which they were exposed: photographs are, etymologically, images made by
the marks of light. here, we have photographs—literally images of light taken when there is no light.
deschenes’s installation follows suit with herbert Bayer’s unprecedented exhibition design Diagram
of a 360° Field of Vision, as part of a 1935 exhibition installation for the Baugewerkschafts Ausstellung
(Building Workers’ Unions Exhibition) in Berlin. there, artworks were displayed at every angle, on every
possible surface including floors and ceilings. this all-out exhibition design allowed the viewer’s eye
to wander throughout the whole room: up and down, left and right, east and west, not a single wall
was privileged.1 this vast and critical expansion of the visual field broke away from the standard
concept of art display (you might call it the first attempt at creating institutional critique). this placed
the focus instead on the viewer and their full physical experience as they moved through the space of the display.
we know that during his trip to europe in 1930, Cage spent time with many Bauhaus artists, Bayer among them.2
it is quite possible that John Cage saw earlier studies of the 360° field-of-vision design; if not, he most likely heard about it.
deschenes’s present reinterpretation of Bayer’s design incorporates highly-reflective photograms, presenting the viewer with a circle
of planes that hold no discernible picture. Because of the reflective nature of the photograms, deschenes’s work accentuates the
premises of Bayer’s installation, by shifting the emphasis from the subjectivity of the artist to the subjectivities of the viewers whose
presence and gaze form a truly inter-subjective sphere that echoes and amplifies the artist’s initial intention.
self-expression, and means of exploration of the world are, arguably, the two principal directions taken by much photography in the
past.3 deschenes, paradoxically, addresses both branches of this alternative—her art is a means of self-expression, through which
she tests the various methods and limits that photography presents. Tilt/Swing (360° field of vision, version 2) continues deschenes’s
focus on pushing the boundaries of what photography is—capturing light—and how it is perceived—self-expression versus
exploration. however, by simply focusing on and exploring the limits of the photographic medium, deschenes’s work is aligned with
Cage’s foray into the elimination of subjectivity. as John Cage refers to robert rauschenberg’s White Paintings: “he is not saying; he
is painting . . . the message is conveyed by dirt which sticks to itself and to the canvas.”4 analogously, deschenes is not saying; she
is displaying, exposing, and reflecting. the message conveyed is determined by the viewer’s interaction with the work.
Claire Bergeal
Notes
1 Arthur A. Cohen, Herbert Bayer: The Complete Work (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984), 289.
2 David Nicholls, et al, Cambridge Companion to John Cage (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 23.
3 John Szarkowski, Mirrors and Windows: American Photography since 1960 (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1978), 19.
4 John Cage, “On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Work,” Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage, (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1966), 99.
Tilt/Swing (360° field of vision, version 2), 2010
six unique silver toned black and white photograms
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Miguel abreu gallery
34 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
F e l i p e d u l Z a i d e s F e l i p e d u l Z a i d e s
b. 1965 havana, Cuba. lives and works in havana
working in a variety of mediums and contexts, Felipe dulzaides explores shifting perceptions of the
natural world. projects include installations such as an inflatable heart, in which children can jump
(What is essential is invisible to the eyes, 2006), to quickly constructed scaffolding whose function
is to keep a ball from falling to the floor (Structure that keeps the ball off the ground, 2002).
For his project Taking Chances (2009–2011), dulzaides photographed and made short videos of a
roll of toilet paper being thrown into the air and unraveled by the wind. originally exhibited in a los
angeles international airport terminal, Taking Chances uses a very simple structure consisting of
the interplay between gravity and wind acting upon the roll of toilet paper. the combination of these
two forces (gravity and wind) interact to give the unrolling paper its own swirling, lyrical arabesques,
as they trail it across the landscape enabling this prosaic everyday use object to acquire an arching
poetic gesture.
Taking Chances, and many of dulzaides’s short videos, including Unwind (2004), Blowing Things Away
(2001), and Dialog with a Foghorn (1999) employ a mechanism used by John Cage starting in the early
1950s. Cage began to deploy a chance operation methodology as a structuring agent that allowed for
both a conceptual and technical support for work. resulting compositions, such as those from Cage’s
Variations (1958–1967), were beyond the conceivable imagination of both composer and audience.
dulzaides also uses chance operations in some of his video shorts, such as Unwind or Making a Road
(2001). instead of relying on his own skills, he relies on the forces of wind and gravity. in this way, the
paper draws a line that the artist would, in theory, not have been able to conceive or make.
using toilet paper as drawing tool again, in the series of photographs Toilet Paper Interactions (2001–
2009), dulzaides inserts toilet paper into landscapes thereby altering them in provocative ways.
in one print, a blank slab of black top is converted by placing parallel lines of toilet paper mimicking
the painted lines of a parking lot. through this simple intervention, dulzaides seeks to impose order
onto an otherwise non-orderly space. that same desire to apprehend the natural world through at
least some kind of methodology attracted Cage to the I Ching. the I Ching became, for Cage, the
structuring agent for his use of chance operation. dulzaides further elaborates on Cage’s chance
operation in his short videos, and displays his kinship with Cage’s desire to interact with the natural
environment in pieces like Toilet Paper Interactions.
Reid Strelow
Selected Video Works, 1999–2011
single channel video reel (looping video):
Following an Orange, 1999, 1’ 14”
Dialog with a Foghorn, 1999, 1’ 40”
Time in My Hand, 2000, 2’ 13”
Blowing Things Away, 2001, 2’ 45”
Unwind, 2003, 00’ 45”
Welcome to the Other Side, 2007, 4’ 32”
In Between, 2011, 1’ 17”
Courtesy of the artist
36 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
l e ó n F e r r a r i l e ó n F e r r a r i
b. 1920 buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in buenos aires
incandescent lines define the work of león Ferrari, first appearing in his complex wire sculptures
of the 1960s, then, in the same period, emerging in words, within a language meant to challenge
violence and repression. in The Art of Meaning (1968), he criticizes avant-garde art that is restricted
to formal innovation. he argues that meaning is essential aesthetic material, and states, “art will
neither be beauty nor novelty; art will be efficacy and perturbation.”1 with the tucuman arte project
of 1968, he moved closer to an activist role. he and other committed argentine artists joined together
in an overt political action to expose the disenfranchisement of sugar cane workers by the military
government. works such as the Words of Others, a montage of the bible, newspaper reports, quotes
from hitler, pope paul Vi, and president lyndon B. Johnson, are assembled in such a way that they
condemn the church, state, and all dominating euro-american institutions for their interventionist
policies, complicity, hypocrisy, and immorality.
Colgante Escultura Sonora (Hanging Sound Instrument) is three meters high, consisting of slim metal
rods, each stainless steel element suspended from a square steel armature. it hangs from the ceiling
and the viewer is encouraged to enter the piece and take hold of the rods. squeezing them together
produces a heavy, rustling sound that envelops the viewer. immersed in this field, a dematerialization
takes place, as the reverberations redefine the vectors of listening, and reach infinite pulsation. Myriad
particulars are always sacrificed by any abstract unifying concept, as John Cage illustrated when he
redirected our attention to the particulars of every single particular sound. By employing rhythmic
structures and chance, each sound can be experienced as unique. with his musical sculptures, Ferrari
manipulates and shapes experience as viewer and sound intersect, splintering subjectivity into an
electric field.
Raphael Moser
Notes
1 León Ferrari. (Katzenstein 2004), 316.
Colgante Escultura Sonora
(Hanging Sound Instrument), 1979/2010
steel
118 1/8 x 15 3/4” (300 x 40 cm)
Courtesy of augusto and león Ferrari art & acquis
Foundation and haunch of Venison gallery
38 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
r o B e rt F i l l i o u r o B e rt F i l l i o u
b. 1926 sauve, france. d. 1987 les eyzies, france
a French member of the international Fluxus movement in the 1960s, robert Filliou was in direct
contact with John Cage. this can be seen in his work predominantly through an ongoing exploration
of the interplay between silence and music, as in Telepathic Music No. 5. the work features a roster
of traditional music stands that conjure up the presence of a traditional orchestra, each instrument
player reading his score. instead of the traditional music score, a double-sided playing card gives the
potential orchestra member the clue of what s/he is to play or interpret. Filliou’s installation, evoking
the leftovers of non-musical performance, opens up to a performance in which random passersby
interact with one another, looking at various cards, left to their own devices to “re-create” what
Telepathic Music could be about.
silence and indeterminacy, both key to Cage’s oeuvre, are crucial here, in Telepathic Music No. 5. the
music implied by the title of the piece and the inclusion of stands is nowhere to be heard; it is purely
a “telepathic” experience that takes place between the participants and the artist. in the experiential
sense of the work, just as Cage manipulated sounds and a silence that do not exist, so too does Filliou allow silence
to take the place of literal music—Filliou’s silence, though, sounds different: it is telepathic—it truly depends on an
(impossible?) communication between the artist (or the conductor) and his players. Furthermore, indeterminacy
dominates the performance aspect of this piece. a performance can only commence when two people look at either
side of the card that is hoisted in front of them. the artist has no control over who these individuals are or how they
will interact with the installation. these participants simply find themselves in the midst of a silent score for
both a musical piece and a Fluxus performance.
the concept of silence was important throughout Filliou’s career. as early as 1965, Filliou performed Yes – an action
poem, inspired not only by the idea of silence, but also by Zen, another key interest of Cage’s that reverberated on
many of his friends and acquaintances. during the first half of this performance, Filliou sat, unmoving, on a stage while
allison knowles described bodily systems. Filliou’s action, or lack thereof, constitutes both literal silence, as he said
nothing, and the silence of the body, as his sole activity was the most basic of all, that of simply being. Meanwhile,
knowles’ complementary recitation described all of the things that Filliou’s body was, in fact, doing while he sat there
in silence. Breathing and other necessary bodily functions, in this instance, are sounds that fill Cage’s and Filliou’s
silence. this sitting also references the soto school of Zen, which describes the practice of meditation as “just sitting.”1
this performance, then, references Cage through Filliou’s deep involvement with both silence and Zen.
Jennifer Wolf
Notes
1 Ken Friedman, ed. The Fluxus Reader (West Sussex, UK: Academy Editions, 1998), 108.
Telepathic Music #5, 1976–78
33 music stands, 32 playing cards
and 34 small note cards
dimensions variable
the Museum of Modern art.
the gilbert and lila silverman Fluxus Collection gift
40 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
Telepathic Music #5, 1976–78
33 music stands, 32 playing cards
and 34 small note cards
dimensions variable
the Museum of Modern art.
the gilbert and lila silverman Fluxus Collection gift
Y u k i o F u J i m oto Y u k i o F u J i m oto
b. 1950 nagoya, Japan. lives and works osaka, Japan
yukio Fujimoto’s combinations of sound installation, and found objects challenge traditional Japanese
art practice. often described as a sound artist, Fujimoto, in fact, is more interested in activating all
senses by creating interactions that encourage viewers to see, feel, hear, and touch the art object.
the artist describes these interactive provocations as “philosophical toys.”
Fujimoto moved to osaka in 1971 to study music at the osaka university of arts. inspired by the
university’s program and its advanced use of electronic music equipment, Fujimoto studied the early
advances made in this field, across the globe, and thus came across John Cage. Fujimoto soon began
to develop his own creative style that challenged the conventions of music making in Japan. in 2001,
Fujimoto was the featured artist at the Japan pavilion of the Venice Biennale, followed by his decade-
long project “Bijutsukan-no-ensoku” (“audio picnic at the Museum”) (1997–2006). this annual show,
which turned the otani Memorial art Museum in Nishinomiya City into an interactive exhibition
for a single day, afforded him much international acclaim. in 2007, Fujimoto returned to the Venice
Biennale, this time contributing his installation Ears with Chair to the international exhibition curated
by robert storr.
a site-specific work, Ears with Chair consists of three basic elements—an everyday chair (usually
an office chair) and two pipes on stands or adhered to the wall. what activates the work, however,
are two indispensable conditions: the viewer/listener’s participation in the act of sitting down and
grasping the two long tubes to bring them in contact with one’s ears; and second, the ambient noise
made by the circulation of other (potential) listeners/viewers. Ears with Chair conjures up Cage’s
body of work in that it boils down composition to its most fundamental form: it involves only what is
necessary to facilitate a viewing/listening experience. the two pipes connect the seated participant
to sounds coming from the world “outside.” the pipes alter the acoustics of incoming sound, thereby
altering the participant’s experience of reality and proposing the existence of another dimension.
the participant is thus encouraged to focus on the physical action of active listening. at the same
time, Fujimoto goes further than Cage by literally cornering the viewer/listener at the intersection of
two long tubes. in so doing, the artist emphasizes the vulnerability of the participant, while activating
all of their sensorial responses.
yukio Fujimoto’s practice brings together everyday life and art through found objects and materials,
as well as utilizing the artwork’s surroundings. in Ears with Chair, Fujimoto allows what Cage termed
“chance sound” to inform the participant’s experience. in this way, Ears With Chair, like 4’33”, is a
conduit for an indeterminate audio experience and a “tool to appreciate the world.”1
Claire Breukel
Notes
1 http://www.osaka-brand.jp/en/kaleidoscope/art/index2.html
Ears with Chair, 1990
installation
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
42 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
Ears with Chair, 1990
installation
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
n i Co l á s g uag n i n in i Co l á s g uag n i n ib. 1966 buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in new york
g a r e t H Ja m e s g a r e t H Ja m e s b. 1970 london, england. lives and works in british Columbia, Canada
in 2006 Nicolás guagnini, and his colleague, gareth James, made a proposal to the andrew roth
gallery to take a full-page ad in the summer issue of the art world’s holy grail, Artforum. the gallery
agreed and guagnini and James then invited seven artists: alejandro Cesarco, rodney graham, Jutta
koether, guillermo kuitca, seth price, Nancy spero, and lawrence weiner to create seven original
works within this format. the advertisement ran as a blank page in the magazine, and separately,
the works of art were sold as a deluxe edition. the resulting ad—which promoted work that was
entirely fictional—bypasses the magazine’s economy and undermines the conventional modes of
advertisement, promotion, and sales. this act exposes the intrinsically problematic nature of the
interdependency between the magazine’s content and its ever complicated relation to the market
and advertising.
guagnini and James were both founding members of the cooperatively owned exhibition and gallery
space, orchard 47, located on the lower east side of Manhattan from 2005 to 2008. the gallery,
like their work, was often associated with institutional critique, a practice that questioned and challenged the authority of the gallery
and museum. in their own art practice one can indentify common themes such as social division, repression, psychoanalysis, and the
capitalist structure in both gaugnini and James’s sculptural installations, guagnini’s films and photographs, and James’s typological work.
in Break Even, guagnini and James abandon traditional mode of authorship—following suit with Cage’s abiding attempt to eradicate
the artist out of the artwork. paying lip service to these kind of concerns, Artforum’s notoriously jam packed editions repeatedly affirm,
through advertisements and features, conventional ideas of what it means to be an artist; maker and product are inextricably linked.
guagnini and James’s white page halts the custom trajectory of the art magazine and creates a space where we are no longer given an
answer—any answer. the white page presses upon us an instant of silence that might frustrate, shock, surprise, or even better, spur
indifference. the artists’ intention, however, is to open the reader’s cognition beyond the limitations of prescribed paradigms. it is in
fact not silent at all, but asks the viewer questions about production, value, authorship and how all these functions relate to each other.
Furthermore, authorship shifts from guagnini and James when they ask others to intervene on the blank page. similar to Cage’s openness
to indeterminate and environmental noises, guagnini and James provide a structure, a 10 1/2 x 10 1/2” page, but allow a quasi-infinite
multiplicity of interpretations, reactions, and markings to constitute the final form.
it seems that guagnini and James, like Cage, want to reveal the substructure and logic governing various arenas of society—and of this
weird sub-strata, the art world. By highlighting—and abstracting—some of the key functions inherent in this world (promotion, visibility,
advertising) guagnini, James, (and Cage, before them) expose the absurdity of authoritarian systems. unlike Cage, however, guagnini’s
and James’s work is often intended to criticize the economic system and its failure through an appropriation of capitalist signifiers, such
as an Artforum ad. despite this difference, Cage and his younger colleagues share a desire to engage in a collaborative process that
challenges accepted norms and asks the viewer to reexamine the world in which s/he lives.
Sydney Gilbert
Break Even, 2006
intervention in Artforum
10 1/2 x 10 1/2” (26.7 x 26.7cm)
private Collection
44 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
Break Even, 2006
intervention in Artforum
10 1/2 x 10 1/2” (26.7 x 26.7cm)
private Collection
lY n n e H a r loWlY n n e H a r loW
b. 1968 attleboro, ma. lives and works in providence, ri and in new york, ny
“J’ai fait les gestes blancs parmi les solitudes.”
– Apollinaire
lynne harlow’s work questions the limits of art, both in terms of the notion of the traditional art
object and the viewer’s relation to it. pushing the work almost to the point of dissolution, her work
requires the participation of the viewer, even if only as witness, in order to operate—in order to rescue
its very existence. toeing the edge of this abyss, harlow pushes the limit of the physical presence
of her work. this emphasis on sensorial deprivation however, is offered by the artist as an act of
generosity. what she offers is an “incomplete choreography,” inviting the viewer to step outside
the traditional artist/audience relationship and instead engage in a dialectic investigation. in her
solicitation of the viewer, her work provides a space for an encounter, continuing the conversations
and propositions set forth by previous generations in the form of happenings.
the origin of happenings, a revolutionary performative practice that reached its apex in the ’60s,
can be traced back to John Cage and a particular event that occurred at Black Mountain College
in the summer of 1952. inspired by The Theatre and Its Double by antonin artaud, which encourages
the integration of theatre and life to create a new hybrid art form, Cage organized an evening that
combined painting, dance, a lecture, the recitation of poetry, and the playing of music. the traditional
notion of the stage was inverted with the performances taking place in and around the audience.
the result of this subversion of the traditional audience/performer relationship combined with the
heterogeneity of media and experience had the effect of dislocating the conventional status of art
in every sense.
Following in Cage’s footsteps, harlow plays with a similar disruption of relationships, both in terms of
the juxtaposition of media as well as between the viewer and the work. she describes her installation
BEAT as hovering on the border between drawing and sculpture. indeed, it is difficult to categorize
this work, which is composed solely of a monochromatic white drum kit oriented towards a large
yellow square painted on the facing wall. over the course of two hours a series of drummers play to
this yellow wall, creating an exchange between the visual and the aural. what harlow seems to be
proposing is that the interstice between these realms is the domain of the happening. the focus of the
work thus becomes a dialogue between two disparate elements, their shared space and the energy
created between them. all of this is then triangulated by the presence of the viewer, bearing witness
to this conversation and engaging in it.
Annie Wischmeyer
BEAT, 2007
acrylic paint, drum kit, live performance with musicians
painted square 8’ 5” x 8’ 5” (245.1 x 245.1cm)
Courtesy of the artist and MiNus spaCe, Brooklyn, Ny
46 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
d o u g l as H u e B l e r d o u g l as H u e B l e r
b. 1924 ann arbor, mi. d. 1997 Truro, ma
Variable Piece #70 is one of many conceptual photographic works and documentations by douglas
huebler, a major figure in Conceptual art in the late 1960s. a bit older than other Conceptual artists,
such as lawrence weiner, Jan dibbets, and richard long, huebler has held a critical role within the
development of Conceptualism, namely by being a proponent of dissolving or “dematerializing” the
art object—which soon became a shibboleth of Conceptualism. it was huebler who famously said,
“the world is full of objects, more or less interesting; i do not wish to add anymore. i prefer, simply
to state the existence of things in terms of time and space.”1
the eerie parallel between this statement and some of the tenets of John Cage’s Zen-inspired
philosophy has largely escaped attention. yet, both artists’ individual research was characterized
by an absolute openness to the flow of things. Both disciples of Marcel duchamp, they used the
constraints of time to explore the possibilities of chance. huebler documented the residual effects
of time, whereas Cage tackled real time.2 Both artists were fascinated by the notion that all—
all sounds, all objects, all people—are equally worthy of attention.
Variable Piece # 70 offers a perfect illustration of this excessive interest in the whole world: this piece was meant to
document the existence of everyone alive. photographing mostly groups of people in public, the project—absurdly grandiose
in its objective mission—was doomed from the start. this ridiculous and seemingly arbitrary exercise exposes the camera’s
weakness as a tool, revealing the “tension between surface blandness and infinite meaning.”3 huebler’s documentation work
is “ephemeral and mind-teasing,” a kind of systematic demystifying, only to create another shroud.4 as critic John Miller
wrote, “he [huebler] consistently destabilizes the photo’s documentary status by pointing to the kinds of information it
cannot convey.”5 this early work operates by a kind of gambling and humor leading to what is beyond our grasp, impossible
to measure. the work is negating not only the object but the author as well.
John Cage’s work operates within a similar paradox. his writings in Silence seem straightforward, but ultimately they dive
into the unknown or ungraspable. similarly, in his Duration Piece #2 (1970), huebler exhibits six timed snapshots of a statue
partly obscured by passing cement trucks in order to illustrate the “timeless serenity of the statue.”6 huebler’s work is both
frustrating and funny. it was Cage who pioneered the way for such chance operations to provide a framework for future
artists. Variation # 70 offers a marvelously futile attempt to photograph everyone without being dictated by any particular
logic, or program—ultimately, nothing but chance guides the artist in his grandiose, and unreachable plan.
Tryn Collins
Notes
1 Roberta Smith. “Douglas Huebler, 72, Conceptual Artist.” The New York Times. July 17, 1997.
2 Alexander Alberro. Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003), 77.
3 Mike Kelley. “Shall We Kill Daddy.” Origin and Destination. 1997, (http://strikingdistance.com/c3inov/kelley.html), 3.
4 Roberta Smith. ibid, 1.
5 John Miller. “Double or Nothing, John Miller on the art of Douglas Huebler.” Artforum. (April 2006), 4.
6 Mike Kelley. ibid, 6.
Variable Piece #70, 1971
Black-and-white photographs and typewriting on paper
17 5/16 x 40 1/8 x 1 3/16” (43.9 x 101.9 x 3cm)
the Museum of Modern art.
partial gift of the daled Collection and
partial purchase through the generosity of
Maja oeri and hans Bodenmann,
sue and edgar wachenheim iii,
Marlene hess and James d. Zirin, agnes gund,
Marie-Josée and henry r. kravis, and
Jerry i. speyer and katherine g. Farley
48 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
dav i d l a m e l as dav i d l a m e l as
b. 1946 buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in los angeles, Ca
david lamelas helps us reconsider the forms and meanings applied to art in the ‘60s and ‘70s. his
interest in media, especially cinema, is related to his greater concern with the nature of information
and the means of conveying that information. For instance, Conflict of Meaning (Film Script) (1972)
consists of a set of images simply arranged in various configurations to alter their coded meanings,
while yet retaining an over all ambiguous message. the same year, with To Pour Milk Into a Glass
(1972), lamelas challenged societal conventions through the intentional mis-pouring of milk into
a glass that was being progressively destroyed. overall, lamelas’ work offers us a dynamic, and
complex analysis of the unsolvable problematic of subjectivity in contemporary art.
Limit of A Projection I constructs a sculpture with light. a theatrical spotlight is situated above the
gallery floor, and pointed down to emit a field of photons. the projected light forms an intense,
bright-white cone. the room is darkened so that the pyramidal beam of light can be properly
perceived. this work is formally minimal, yet conceptually loaded. the experience of the viewer
is predicated on the reception of this intense conical source of light. the light appears all the more
significant in contrast to its immediate environment: darkness. the light is illuminating, but illuminates
nothing, but empty space. there is no material object to observe, nothing tactile, nothing visible—
nothing one would want to grasp. the only factor that brings this cone of light into existence is the
passage of a viewer-observer. the analytical gaze of a participant is the condition of possibility of the
meaning of this work. and, vice versa, the viewer’s imagination (and their own limitations) determine
the limit to which meaning can be projected on to the piece. without the engagement of the viewer
the piece is incomplete, in fact, inexistent. Limit of A Projection I lives through its being perceived and
processed through an observer, and dies without it.
lamelas shares with Cage a deep sense of selflessness—a rare commodity in the art world. the
persistent theme of audience dependency throughout lamelas’ greater oeuvre conjures up the Cagean
notion of engagement. as both lamelas and Cage are setting up environments for experiences, both
artists are delegating responsibility to the viewer—in a far more real and concrete way than duchamp
could ever have conceived.
they thus both bring attention to the significance of subjectivity (and inter-subjectivity). in this way,
the work questions who or what agent produces our experiences, including the mundane ones we take
for granted.
Matthew Cianfrani
Limit of a Projection I, 1967
theater spotlight in darkened room
63 (160cm) to 74 3/4” (189.87cm) diameter
Collection walker art Center, Minneapolis.
t. B. walker acquisition Fund, 2009
50 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
r e i n e r l e i s t r e i n e r l e i s t
b. 1964 west germany. lives and works in new york, ny
Beginning in 1995, as a romantic gesture to a long-distance lover, reiner leist started taking a
photograph from the same window of his midtown loft almost every day. the frame directs the
viewer’s gaze down eighth avenue from the twenty-sixth floor of the artist’s building. the images
are made using an archaic technique referred to as tin type. Consisting of not much more than a box
with a small hole and a chemically treated sheet of tin, the technique was developed at the dawn of
photography in the nineteenth century. this primitive form of harnessing light allows for little control
over the optical physics and image chemistry, or, pixel manipulation that is now possible.
the images, now numbering up to the thousands, were selected for exhibition through various
strategies. For example, in 2006 at the Julie saul gallery, leist selected images produced throughout
eleven subsequent months of september in reference to 9/11 as a rebuking gesture of that date’s
loaded association. given the prominence of the world trade towers within the composition of these
images, their presence, or not, within leist’s images is very charged. leist, however, merely presents
these images in a gridded light-box, organized chronologically. the consecutive, narrative implications
are left to the curators’ choices.
leist’s work, though derived from personal experience, seeks to be generative rather than
representative. photography, more than any other representational form, seems to demand being read,
not merely seen. leist understands that one’s subjective experience cannot be easily transmitted,
at least not through the limited technology of photography. rather, his system is one in which the
viewer can engage on their own terms, extracting the elements of the image that are compelling,
and developing an individual interpretation of the work.
abiding questions regarding authorship are shared concerns between leist and Cage: the Window
Project seems intent on delivering what is, rather than what the artist sees (or decides to see, or not
to see). it is all there, unedited—as in some of Cage’s compositions (think of Imaginary Landscape IV,
1951). leist’s technical process for Window Project requires very little manipulation beyond opening the
shutter for a calculated set of time. the light pours in, bleeding at the edges, and imprints itself against
the film-plate without any aid from a lens or aperture. the result is a grey, low-contrast composition.
through relinquishing control of the image, leist produces a situation allowing the viewer to create his
or her own experience.
Matthew Cianfrani
Window Project, 1995-ongoing
(work on loan spans 1995-2005)
installation: film, glass, plexiglass,
wood and fluorescent lights
dimensions variable
installation view, Museum for photography, Berlin, 2007
Courtesy Julie saul gallery and the artist
52 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
J o r g e m aCC H iJ o r g e m aCC H i
b. 1963 buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in buenos aires
Chance, employed as a mechanism for creative production, offers the possibility of random yet
often fortuitous moments that result in shifting conventional modes of understanding and the
creation of new meaning. resorting to chance operations in his compositional process allowed John
Cage to enter the realm of quotidian and prosaic circumstances. the imprint of these unforeseeable
and unquantifiable circumstances marked a radical shift in attitudes towards the authorial role of the
artist. For example, rather than for divination as it was intended, Cage utilized the i-Ching, the ancient
Chinese text, as an a priori system that allowed him to remove himself from the authorial position.
this same interest in chance appears again in his utilization of radios and other such devices that
when “played” during a piece, introduce an element of chaos based on location and circumstance. For
Cage, chance represented an opportunity not only to distance himself from the burden of expression,
but also to open up the possibility of discovering unintended significance through happenstance.
argentine artist Jorge Macchi shares a similar interest in the providential experiences that the utilization
of chance creates. he is perpetually engaged with ideas of impermanence and circumstance, and chance
operates for him as a mechanism to conjure these notions in a manner that allows for their analysis. the
circumscription of chance within the confines of a system transforms the incidental into meaning.
“even when music is a consequence of chance… what appears in the first place is an obsessive desire to assign sense or logic to the nonsensical. that’s how i understand the work we developed in Buenos Aires Tour: a tourist guide of Buenos aires based on a chance operation like the breaking of a glass, a project focused more on the creation of meaning than on the superficial description of a city.”1
in his piece Buenos Aires Tour, Macchi orchestrates a tour guided by chance operations, inviting the participant
to engage in the randomness produced. this randomness, however, affords the opportunity for the creation of
unforeseen significance. Breaking a pane of glass, Macchi superimposes the lines of fracture on a map of the
city, allowing the lines to suggest routes through the city streets and producing a series of “itineraries.” the
product of a collaboration with poet María Negroni and composer edgardo rudnitzky, this piece is comprised
of a guide, a map, a dictionary, a prayer book and other ephemera. this idiosyncratic collection of texts,
sounds, and objects becomes a subversive tour guide, one that toys with our conventional mode of navigation.
thus, rather than the traditional city tour comprised of monuments and landmarks, unchanging markers
designed to operate as timeless definitions of the city, Macchi’s tour offers an alternate view. instead of the
staid routine of programmed sites, chance operations provide an opportunity to traverse unexpected and
often overlooked environs, affording the participant the chance to encounter the city in a new, and somewhat
unexpected, manner.
Annie Wischmeyer
Notes
1 Interview with Edgardo Rudnitzky, http://bombsite.com/issues/106/articles/3218
Buenos Aires Tour, 2003
in collaboration with María Negroni (texts)
and edgardo rudnitzky (sound)
Mixed media: box, booklets, postcards,
map, Cd-rom, and stamps
dimensions variable
private Collection
54 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
C H r i s t i a n m a r C l aY C H r i s t i a n m a r C l aY
b. 1955 san rafael, Ca. lives and works in london, england and new york, ny
in Indian Point Road, a camera was set on a tripod by the artist along a quiet country road in Maine.
throughout the video, a single frame captures, unedited, the indeterminate, and indeterminable flow
of events that occur alongside the route. pure indeterminacy, indeed: an occasional car driving by, the
slight wavering movement of the foliage of trees in the wind. Nothing; something; anything. at any
time. this video offers a moving homage to Cage’s life-long exploration of happenstance eventuality.
this work was commissioned as a backdrop for one of a series of eight “events,” performances
collaged from existing choreography, organized by the Merce Cunningham dance Company at the
Joyce theater in december, 2004. the dancers were accompanied by newly composed (or found)
music: the sounds of Christian Marclay’s roadside. Much like Cage’s music and Cunningham’s
choreography, Indian Point Road proceeds freely—both independently of the will of the artist, and
autonomously from the performers on the stage. the random activity of the background traffic
occurring on the screen is offset by the (necessarily unrelated) activities of the dancers. randomness
compounds randomness.
Indian Point Road conjures up Cage’s famous dedication to, and pursuit of, an impossible silence:
very little “happens” throughout this video and very little can be heard; yet, Marclay known for his
acute dedication to the perfection of sound—carefully refrained himself here from adding (or editing)
any prescribed audio to the video, thus confronting us, the viewers/listeners, with the occasional
oppressing density of silence. these moments are punctured by ambient noises—birds, insects, a
breeze—that Cage would welcome in his own work. this pastoral cacophony escapes the intention of
the artist, who, through the mechanical device of his video, allowed them to be recorded. in so doing,
the artist transmuted them into music.
Marclay’s subject matter in Indian Point Road, is an ordinary american rural road. Not much happens
there (as on most rural roads). the video opens its lens to this: very little. in a Cagean manner, the
video, at times, can become monotonous—etymologically, one and the same tone dominates. yet,
paradoxically, the peaceful tranquility of this slice of nature acquires a certain grandeur. it becomes
mesmerizing, broken only by the sudden, indeterminate, startling burst of noise from a passing
automobile.
also Cagean, here, is Marclay’s exploration of duration per se: by letting the video camera do the work,
the artist seizes on time in its pure essence—not the time of an event (in which time itself is sunk),
but time as the event itself. By the same token, the world around the artist’s camera, in its perfect
ordinariness, in its naked and unedited simplicity, becomes the primary experience.
Jennifer Wolf
Indian Point Road, 2004
single channel video
duration: 30 minutes
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and
paula Cooper gallery, New york
56 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
r i va n e n e u e n s C H Wa n d e r r i va n e n e u e n s C H Wa n d e r
b. 1967 belo horizonte, brazil. lives and works in belo horizonte
O trabalho dos dias/Day’s Work was originally exhibited during the 24th são paulo Biennial in 1998.
while she was living in london, Brazilian artist rivane Neuenschwander swept up all the debris in her
home onto large square adhesive sheets. the results were two cubicles entirely tiled, from the walls
to the floor, with the residue of daily life. these tiles remain active while they are being exhibited,
acquiring still more dust and grime from daily visitors. in this piece, the “color” white turns out not to
be pure or neutral at all: there is no such thing as white. one sees here a direct parallel with Cage’s
realization that there is no such thing as pure silence. O trabalho dos dias/Day’s Work also alludes to
rauschenberg’s White Paintings. Cage, referring to the White Painting from 1951, gushes that they are
“airports for light, shadows, and particles...a painting constantly changing.”1 But Neuenschwander’s
piece, although still receptive to the dimensions of light and shadow, acquires a more tongue-in-
cheek and gritty tonality. Far from the White Paintings, the adhesive paper here conjures old-fashioned
fly-traps and gives any neo-dada trope a different coloration: from airstrips for molecules, (Cage’s
description of rauschenberg’s White Paintings) we move to sticky tapes for mosquitoes—same function; different effect.
an important precedent for this work can be found in duchamp’s and Man ray’s collaboration, Dust Breeding, 1920.
after duchamp allowed one of his works, The Large Glass, to accumulate dust for a whole year, Man ray photographed
the results. But again, in contradistinction to this Franco-american duo and their careful and elegantly drawn lines of dust,
Neuenschwander’s industrial adhesive captures all and everything: the dirt and dust that sticks around is there to remind
us what even duchamp would have rather forgotten.
in a lecture he gave late in life, Cage explained his use of chance, saying, “i’m speaking of nothing special, just an open
ear and an open mind and the enjoyment of daily noises.”2 Cage indeed, built much of his work around the aesthetics of
non-intention, and was always careful to add that this was for one’s “enjoyment.”3 he embraced the unpredictability of the
day-to-day: whatever noise occurred in his aural environment—whatever went on the radio, a sneeze, a fire truck hurtling
by—was perfect. Much of Neuenschwander’s work also embraces chance and uncertainty—and this astounding capacity
to accept all. in her piece Starving Letters from 2000, she let snails eat undetermined patterns onto rice paper and, strangely
enough, the end result resembles maps. For One Thousand and One Possible Nights from 2008, shown at her New Museum
show in 2010, she punched holes out of a portuguese translation of The Arabian Nights, letting the piles of clippings create
arbitrary patterns on the floor. it is with this Cage-inspired openness that rivane Neuenschwander is able to map the subtle
beauty of the quotidian. O trabalho dos dias/Day’s Work is a testament to the overlap between art and life.
Tryn Collins
Notes
1 John Cage, Silence: Lectures and Writings (MIddletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), 102–103.
2 James Pritchett, The Music of John Cage (Cambridge and New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1993), 145.
3 Brooks Williams, “Music II: From the Late 1960’s,” The Cambridge Companion to John Cage, edited by David Nicholls (Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2002), 135.
O trabalho dos dias/Day’s Work, 1998
gathered dust onto squares of adhesive vinyl
dimensions variable
Courtesy of tanya Bonakdar gallery, New york;
Fortes Vilaça gallery, são paulo; and
stephen Friedman gallery, london
58 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
O trabalho dos dias/Day’s Work, 1998
gathered dust onto squares of adhesive vinyl
dimensions variable
Courtesy of tanya Bonakdar gallery, New york;
Fortes Vilaça gallery, são paulo; and
stephen Friedman gallery, london
k a Z o s H i r o k a Z o s H i r o
b. 1967 in okinawa, Japan. lives and works in los angeles, Ca
everyday objects—trash dumpsters, guitar amps, washing machines—are the source of kaz
oshiro’s imagery. through an artistic tour de force that interweaves painting and sculpture, the
artist creates deceivingly close representations of such objects. stretching canvas over stretcher
bars and assembling them together in a 3-d representation of these objects, oshiro then paints a
very convincing trompe l’oeil of the objects he recreates, such as a Fender guitar amp covered by an
impressively painted tweed or the water stain on a counter top. oshiro is never shy about exposing
the backs of his objects, thus revealing the stretched canvases that he assembles together, and
allowing his viewer to have a glimpse of his construction method.
referencing duchamp’s readymades, warhol’s screen-printed soup cans, and artists of the pictures
generation who sampled commercial imagery, oshiro appropriates objects from everyday life. unlike
such predecessors oshiro re-presents by re-constructing undecidedly close imitations of the real
items he copies. however, oshiro’s representations of guitar amps, for example, only function as
images, and remain stubbornly silent.
John Cage’s interest in and elevation of ambient sounds and noise was what first attracted oshiro
to the elder artist’s work. oshiro represents ambient visual noise, highlighting elements that tend to
fall within our peripheral vision and consciousness. Just as Cage often harnessed the unpredictable
cacophony within our daily existence, as exemplified by his commandeering of a live radio broadcast
in Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (1951), oshiro incorporates the visual counterpart into his art making
practice. while Cage’s appropriation of ambient and found sounds incorporates a high level of
indeterminacy however, oshiro’s process is completely deliberate. through oshiro’s methods
of construction and his choice of subject, the artist quietly but deftly elucidates the gaps in our
perception towards the banal elements we encounter within our daily lives.
Reid Strelow
Orange Speaker Cabinets and
Gray Scale Boxes (18 parts), 2009
acrylic and Bondo on stretched canvas
12 orange cabinets: 29 x 30 x 14 3/4”
(73.7 x 76.2 x 37.5cm) each;
6 gray scale boxes: 29 x 30 x 14 3/4”
(73.7 x 76.2 x 37.5cm) each
Courtesy of the artist and galerie Frank elbaz
60 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
e d g a r d o r u d n i tZ k Y e d g a r d o r u d n i tZ k Y
b. 1956 buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in berlin, germany
edgardo rudnitzky is a sound artist, composer, and percussionist, whose practice incorporates sound
and visual art in theatrical settings, dance, and films. rudnitzky’s works explore the nature of sound in
its physical presence. to him, the visual presentation of his art is as important as its aural component.
the artist explores the limits and potential of musical instruments, reinventing the functionality of
a boat, record player, or clock using carefully constructed systems. the artist often incorporates the
setting, whether a public space or a restrictive area, bringing new life to uncommon sites.
Octopus is a sound object in which rudnitzky refashioned a turntable to incorporate four arms, each
protruding from separate corners of the device. the artist created a composition for a string quartet,
recorded each instrument separately, and made a vinyl disc with each track containing one short
musical phrase from one instrument. in its presentation, the arms are motorized, automatically
moving to their proper location (track) on the vinyl, and playing each phrase in sync with the other
instruments (arms). the tracks are distributed on the record so as to create a choreography of
movement when each arm slowly shifts positions. the combined motions of this hybrid creature is
one of surprising gestural fluidity and musical splendor. rudnitzky reconfigured a simple device that
amplifies sonic vibrations into a functioning musical octopus.
in another of his works from 2008, Little Music, rudnitzky and the artist and collaborator Jorge Macchi
(whose work is also represented in this exhibition and catalogue) created an interactive musical
piece in the Bayou saint John for Prospect.1 New Orleans. the back of five paddleboats were rigged
with a percussive african instrument called the kalimba, similar in theory to a music box. teeth were
affixed to the paddles, and with each rotation they struck the metal keys on the kalimba, allowing
the peddlers to create music. the combination of sounds from the five boats, although random,
harmonized beautifully because of the pentatonic scale. here is another instance in which rudnitzky,
like his predecessor John Cage and his prepared pianos, has reconfigured an object to function
quite differently from its original role—and to produce quite a different sound—a hidden Noise (as
duchamp would have it).
Misa Jeffereis
Octopus, 2008
turntable with four arms, each one
with its own speaker, vinyl records
37 7/8 x 24 7/8 x 24 7/8” (96.2 x 63.2 x 63.2cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
62 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
F r e d sa n d B aC k F r e d sa n d B aC k
b. 1943 bronxville, ny. d. 2003 new york, ny
Fred sandback’s breakthrough came in 1967 when, while still in graduate school, he outlined a twenty-
foot-long 2 x 4 with string and wire, removing the board so that only the outline remained. this was
the beginning of a long-held artistic process and exploration into the representation of presence
versus absence. sandback gave “form” to this quasi-impossible conundrum through acrylic yarn. the
artist’s relation to the environment is crucial. Consequently, the space around each piece defines the
piece itself; the presence of a viewer meandering through the artist’s work activates the installation
and allows it to come to life. sandback created pieces that fit within specific architectural spaces
resulting in a close interdependence between the work, the architecture, and the spectator. Fittingly,
the artist referred to his environments as “pedestrian spaces.”
sandback’s oeuvre induces a true phenomenological experience of space and volume, playing with
the viewer’s perception, and creating works that appear to redefine the renaissance concept of what
is in and what is out. with sandback, bizarrely, you are both in and out. straight lines appear to be the
effect of a pure geometrical flat construction, but are actually the projection of a room-size volume.
sandback presented the absence of the mass by evoking this so-called mass with thin skeins of yarn.
the demarcation of absence versus presence recalls Cage’s concept that there can never be “true”
silence—sandback creates volume from very little, rejecting the notion that space can ever be
truly empty.
Julie Dentzer
Untitled (Sculptural Study, Two-part Vertical
Construction), c. 1986/2008
Black acrylic yarn
spatial relationship established by the artist,
overall dimensions vary with each installation
estate of Fred sandback; Courtesy of david Zwirner, New york
64 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
F r a n k s C H e F F e r F r a n k s C H e F F e r
b. 1956 Venlo, The netherlands. lives and works in amsterdam, The netherlands
Frank scheffer is a dutch documentarian who focuses primarily on music, including subjects such as
the 1995 Mahler Festival in amsterdam and the musician Frank Zappa. scheffer has collaborated with
and documented John Cage in Chessfilmnoise (1988) and Time is Music (1988).
From Zero: Four Films on John Cage is a series of four films involving John Cage, produced in
collaboration with composer and musician andrew Culver, who worked for Cage for eleven years,
most notably on One11, from 1992.
the series begins with Nineteen Questions with John Cage, a “chance determined interview” in which
Cage addresses nineteen different topics whose subject and answer-time are dictated by chance
operations. the topics vary wildly, but all broadly touch upon Cage’s vision of the world: e.g., three
seconds on Zen Buddhism (“the structure of the mind”), or, nine seconds on indeterminacy (“how to go
out of one’s mind”). the result is odd, whimsical, and always unexpected. the film casts Cage under a
charming, mischievous, and, at times, deeply ponderous light.
the second film, Fourteen, similarly based on chance operations, is a cinematic take on a composition for fourteen parts by John Cage. the musicians
are each given a sheet of music and a stopwatch, and rather than reading a series of notes on a staff while adhering to a specific time signature, each
musician is instructed to play a specific note for a non-specific period of time during the piece. For example, the musician must begin playing a B flat
between 0’30” and 1’00” and end the note between 0’50” and 1’20.” the duration of the note is up to the musician but, because of Cage’s guidelines,
cannot be longer than fifty seconds. the lighting system in the film is similarly operated—the lighting designer created a chance-operated system by
which the lights turn on and off.1 in typical productions, lighting is synched with the music, but in this case any synchronization is purely coincidental.
working independently, andrew Culver composed the score and Frank scheffer edited the visuals to make the third film, Paying Attention, imitating
the creative process between Cage and his long-time collaborator, choreographer Merce Cunningham. the film is composed of clips from an interview
scheffer conducted with Cage in 1982—the images and sound are distorted to the point of abstraction and incomprehension. For scheffer, the images
on the screen are not about what they represent but rather “what they are, and they are simply digital squares on a tV screen.”2
the fourth and last film of the series, Overpopulation and Art & Ryôan-ji is a collaboration between Cage and scheffer. using a recording of John Cage’s
mesostic poem, Overpopulation and Art, as well as his musical composition Ryôan-ji, scheffer creates a hypnotic film overlaying these elements with a
series of blank screens, scenes from a forest, and snippets of sixth avenue in New york City. the blank screens are black, white, and three shades of
grey in between. the source of Cage’s composition is the Zen rock garden, ryôan-ji, in kyoto (illustrated in Joachim pissarro’s introductory essay): the
solo parts represent the garden’s stones and the irregular rhythm the sand.3
all four films in From Zero: Four Films on John Cage involve chance operations, as is true of all of scheffer‘s films relating to Cage. Cage suggested
scheffer begin using chance operations in 1988, giving him a computer program made by his assistant, andrew Culver. the program simulated the i
Ching coin-tossing method with which Cage was intimately familiar. From then on, scheffer has used that software for his own work.
Claire Bergeal
Notes
1 This system was explained in Making Fourteen, one of the extras on the DVD version of From Zero: Four Films on John Cage,
by Frank Scheffer and Andrew Culver, distributed by Allegri Films, released February, 2004.
2 Email correspondence with Frank Scheffer, December 28, 2011.
3 Ibid.
From Zero: Four Films on John Cage, 1995
dVd
duration: 84 minutes
Collection of the artist
66 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
From Zero: Four Films on John Cage, 1995
dVd
duration: 84 minutes
Collection of the artist
u s H i o s H i n o H a r a u s H i o s H i n o H a r a
b. 1932 Tokyo, Japan. lives and works in new york, ny
“draw a line on the pure white virgin paper. don’t stop, don’t think. Next,
with a spirited howl of ‘yeah, yeah, oh!’ draw circles, draw straight lines and don’t think!”
– Ushio Shinohara1
in 1952, ushio shinohara attended the tokyo university of the arts to study painting. he disliked
the strict curriculum, however, and ultimately decided not to graduate. instead, he helped found
the prolific Neo-dada Movement in tokyo, which was instrumental in transforming traditional art
practices by creating work that did not conform to traditional aesthetics. shinohara’s work questioned
perceptions of “beauty” and “ugliness” and the implied social hierarchy of their meaning, most
notably in his series “Boxing paintings” and “oiran.”
this notion of breaking down preconceived notions of what constituted “good” or “bad” was integral
to John Cage’s sound compositions, particularly in his introduction of chance elements into his work.
this had the same effect for shinohara whose work was termed “bad sculpture”2 in relation to, and in
response to, the celebration of the picturesque in traditional Japanese art. Made of found materials,
these “bad sculptures” aimed to question what constituted “art” and “non art”—the most renowned
of which is his “motorbike sculpture,” made entirely of cardboard and found objects.
shinohara quickly became a leading figure in the Japanese avant-garde movement and participated in eight consecutive Yomiuri Independent Exhibitions
until 1963, the year he began creating “imitation or appropriation paintings.” these paintings recreated american pop-art works, and in so doing,
shinohara negated his authorship. the best-known “imitation painting” is Coca Cola Plan, first created by shinohara in 1964 and replicated by the
artist over many years to follow. as a copy of robert rauschenberg’s 1958 Combine of the same name, shinohara created a replica that had subtle yet
fundamental differences from raushenberg’s piece. while encapsulating the speed and rhythm embodied by american culture, Coca Cola Plan also
embodies its Japanese origin through the particularity of its materials. Made of Coca-Cola bottles produced and found in Japan, shinohara recreated
the look of the original materials using found objects inherent to his environment. in a performative act, shinohara confronted rauschenberg during an
artist presentation with an imitation of Coca Cola Plan, an act that brought him international recognition.
in 1969, shinohara travelled to New york City with a grant from the John d. rockefeller 3rd Fund and decided to stay. his work has since been
exhibited internationally, and his “Boxing painting” performances have been staged in museums and galleries all over the world. these performances
consist of the artist dipping his boxing gloves in ink or paint and punching the canvas before him to create chance marks. the painterly action of
“Boxing paintings” stands for a universal challenge against traditional conventions of art making.
along with a pervasive energy, shinohara and Cage shared a mutual admiration for each other’s cultures—Cage for asian philosophies and Zen
Buddhism, and shinohara for american pop culture. they also shared a motivation to break down the boundaries of conventional creative practice
by negating self-expression in their work in place of collaboration and cross-cultural dialogue.
Claire Breukel
Notes
1 Nicholas Lusher; Ushio Shinohara (1932), www.nicholaslusher.com
2 Shuzo Takiguchi, “It’s Come to This: The Hell with It!,” Art column in Yomiuri Skimbum.
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
Courtesy of the artist and ethan Cohen Fine arts
68 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
l i n da s t i l l m a nl i n da s t i l l m a n
b. 1948 new york, ny. lives and works in new york and hillsdale, ny
“i paint a section of the sky every day and display them by the month or the year. here is a year’s
worth…”1 this is how linda stillman describes her Daily Paintings. a large grid of small rectangles
in varying shades of blue and gray, the Daily Paintings resemble a heavily pixilated image from afar.
up close, however, the nuances of each panel become more apparent, providing glimpses of clouds
here and there. as stillman’s statement implies, this series is an ongoing project in which the artist
undertakes the daily task of painting a small section of the sky and adding each panel to her growing
collection. the result is a conceptually and visually compelling summary of an amount of time
determined by the artist. though stillman does not set any strict time limit for her work, she paints
the view from a predetermined windowpane in her studio (real or imagined) to achieve a specific
angle every day, no matter where she is, in order to assure continuity within the series. the specific
time, date, and location are recorded on the back of each panel. her practice reminds us of another
project exhibited here, reiner leist’s Window Project.
the conceptual basis of stillman’s oeuvre, ranging from these Daily Paintings to photographs of found gloves to a project recording the
progression of a vegetable garden over the course of a few months, finds its origins in the paradoxical work of John Cage. Most important
here, is stillman’s also paradoxical reliance on chance and her inherent daily discipline in maintaining rigorous parameters in her work. she
has specifically highlighted Cage’s impact on her work, citing her own interest in “the everyday stuff and found objects of daily life…[and] the
relation of order and chaos, purpose and chance.”2 stillman, however, does not use any strict form of chance operations—such as Cage’s use
of the i-Ching—daily weather conditions or the survival of vegetation, however, are naturally outside of the control of the artist.
stillman is more attracted to Cage’s interest in indeterminacy than his foray into chance per se. (Chance can be calculated according
to probability theory; indeterminacy cannot). stillman relies on indeterminacy, as she relies on nature. the counterpart is that stillman
rigorously follows the demands of her self-imposed observance of the daily sky conditions, whatever that might be. duration, another
important concept in Cage’s compositions, also plays an important role, as stillman must choose a set period of time to execute her works in
order to control the number of panels in each piece. in this instance, an entire year is used, but she has also displayed individual months.
stillman’s use of her surroundings also finds a parallel in Cage’s concept of silence in music. For Cage, no true silence ever exists. silent
passages in his music, such as the entire composition of the infamous 4’33”, were filled with everyday, ambient noise. the sky takes on a
similar purpose within stillman’s Daily Paintings. like ambient noise, the color of the sky is an unavoidable element of our daily lives, yet one
that few people pay much attention to. By focusing an entire series of works on the sky, viewers are forced to focus their attention on it and
think of their surroundings, just as Cage hoped to do with music through his heavy use of silence. in stillman’s own words, this “silence”
allows her, and Cage, to prove that “we should marvel at the natural world and our material culture and not take it for granted.”3
Jennifer Wolf
Notes
1 “Daily Paintings,” Linda Stillman, www.lindastillman.com/daily-paintings. Accessed on October 22 , 2011.
2 Linda Stillman, email correspondence with author, January 1, 2012.
Daily Paintings, detail: 2007, 2007
acrylic and gouache on paper mounted on panels
365 panels: 77 x 47 x 3/8” (195.6 x 119.4 x 1cm) overall
Collection of the artist
70 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
da n i e l W u rtZ e l da n i e l W u rtZ e l
b. 1962 washington, d.C. lives and works in brooklyn, ny
twin crimson fabrics dance, captured inside currents of air produced by a chorus of twelve
household fans encircling them. daniel wurtzel’s Pas de Deux elicits uncanny elegance in animating
the inanimate. the textiles surge, swell, arabesque, leap, and dive weightlessly and voluminously.
they behave as though they had been choreographed. wurtzel describes his work as “an attempt
to transform ordinary matter into something extraordinary, to bridge the conceptual realm to the
material world.”1 indeed, witnessing the duet collapses any question of suspension of disbelief,
transfixing the viewer.
the allusions to dance, the suspension of the artist’s subjectivity, as well as employment of
indeterminacy and chance, all trace wurtzel’s artistic genealogy back to John Cage. Cage’s
relationship to dance is well known through his partnership with Merce Cunningham. Cunningham’s
dance company became an ideal vessel for the execution of Cage’s compositions. in the early 1930s,
Cage made a contract with himself, saying, “i determined to consider a piece of music only half
done when i completed a manuscript. it was my responsibility to finish it by getting it played.” Further, he recognizes
“that modern dancers were grateful for any sounds or noises that could be produced for their recitals.”2 this symbiotic
relationship would define Cage’s production, particularly after meeting Cunningham and the half-century of collaborative
performances that follow. wurtzel’s Pas de Deux conjures up the spirit of Cage and Cunningham not merely through a
superficial allusion to performing arts, but also alludes to their ethos of progressive movement and experience.
“personality is a flimsy thing on which to build an art,” said Cage. indeed, Pas de Deux denies the artist’s will that seems
here to fly out. after wurtzel sets the stage and flips the switch, there’s no need for further intervention. however, as
with Cage, simplicity belies complexity. this switching touch delivers an endless, and mesmerizing dance of loops from
this tape that seems to be animated by some kind of invisible force. Consider Imaginary Landscape No. 4, wherein Cage
conducted twenty-four players playing twelve analogue radio sets at Columbia university’s McMillin theater in May 1951.
the performers simply turned the radios on, and from then on, adjusted the volume, skipped along the band through static
crackle hiss and the errant phrase or melody. Imaginary Landscape No. 4 divorces the articulation of the performance from
the will of the performer, conductor, and composer. wurtzel’s Pas de Deux and Cage’s Imaginary Landscape No. 4 both turn
over the artist’s will to the hazards of chance. Chance is overt in the indeterminacy of both works, yet something more
than chance feels palpably alive in each piece. the works both capture the felicitous moment, the adroit touch of luck and
joy framed within the artists’ wish.
the armature of Cage’s practice lives in the sublime achievement of wurtzel’s Pas de Deux. wurtzel conjures dance,
dissolution of subjectivity, and the felicitous theater of chance within the gossamer gymnastic poetry of twin pieces of
textile caught inside air currents. it is undeniably beautiful.
Zachery hale
Notes
1 http://www.danielwurtzel.com/sculpture-artist-statement-new-york.cfm
2 John Cage. Silence: Lectures and Writings (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), 86.
Pas de Deux, 2011
Fabric, air
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
72 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
uNder the iNFlueNCe oF Cage
By Julio griNBlatt
74 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
John Cage’s writings have an explicitly political dimension. at times, this stance
has been perceived as being in opposition with a presumed de-politicization of his
music. instead, i see his music as even more politically effective than his writings.
while his writings demand a sophisticated reader, his compositions and related
artworks point to deep and primary issues in his audience, related to their possibility
to participate, and how this participation can trigger unexpected possibilities
of action.
i contributed to this exhibition by gathering artists who, by echoing Cage’s
legacy, may elicit a similar effect from the audience. in a moment in which mass
media demands isolation—for people to relate to representations of life rather than
life itself—Cage calls for integration, to incorporate the world, and be responsive
to it, and to have an active position towards life. there is a resonance between the
spirit of the show and the incipient state of global awareness as a result of 2011’s
arab spring. the horizontal structure of the indignados all over the world, the lack of
definite agenda, and the urge to act is in tune with Cage’s radical politics, which are
not presented via content but in form: the absence of a conductor, the idea that there
is no right way of doing things but rather a multiplicity (yet, paradoxically, wrong
ways of doing things also exist), and the lack of a hierarchical structure among
performers and instruments.1
the relevance of a show of artists who worked or work under the influence of
John Cage—besides the fact that it is the centennial of his birth and the twentieth
anniversary of his passing—is in providing a perceptual plateau, where traces of
his concepts can be experienced. the artists in the show represent a very limited
sampling of the wide universe of artists infected by Cage and a very modest
catalogue of the enormous influence that Cage had on contemporary culture. some
of his concepts spread directly, others indirectly (yet consciously), still others almost
anonymously. Cage’s effect on culture is evinced by the wide array of artists of
different origins working in all disciplines who are influenced by him. as paradoxical
as this may seem, his effect is more powerful than his legacy.a
Mass media functions through the delivery of clear and explicit messages. it will
tell people what they have to do, think, eat, wear, dream, and imagine; it will define
for them the meaning of happiness. after years of indoctrination, we have come
to accept those mandates almost without questioning them. art is not powerful
enough to react to these operations by using the same strategies; the difference
in outreach is insurmountable. declarative or explicit artwork will be digested
by the empire through the ether, as described by Michael hardt and antonio
Negri.2 literality allows discussion and comprehension that allows further control.
resistance to classification is a difficult goal. even John Cage, so full of paradoxes
and contradictions, couldn’t fully escape this assimilation.B Myriad books, films, and
shows—including this one—on John Cage are proof of the possibility to classify
his legacy. But what remains irreducible is his effect on culture. Cage brought to
a – the importance of Cage is such that his effect on a – the importance of Cage is such that his effect on culture is stronger than his legacy. as some examples of culture is stronger than his legacy. as some examples of artists who have been influenced by him, aside from his artists who have been influenced by him, aside from his oft-cited friends Jasper Johns and robert rauschenberg, i oft-cited friends Jasper Johns and robert rauschenberg, i would list composer terry riley, due to his use of chance would list composer terry riley, due to his use of chance through improvisation, his connection between the east through improvisation, his connection between the east and the west, his use of tape loops, both in the studio and the west, his use of tape loops, both in the studio and during live performances; the filmmaker Manon de and during live performances; the filmmaker Manon de Boer, who explored the relationship between chance and Boer, who explored the relationship between chance and memory and life and art; painter kaz oshiro in his mixing memory and life and art; painter kaz oshiro in his mixing of syntaxes and blurring the boundaries between media of syntaxes and blurring the boundaries between media (painting and sculpture, pop with minimalism, the everyday (painting and sculpture, pop with minimalism, the everyday with contemporary art), and his use of humor; tacita with contemporary art), and his use of humor; tacita dean for her investigations on the boundaries between dean for her investigations on the boundaries between life and fiction, the use of chance and circumstance in her life and fiction, the use of chance and circumstance in her multimedia work; performance artist and musician laurie multimedia work; performance artist and musician laurie anderson who uses extended instruments of her invention, anderson who uses extended instruments of her invention, her relation with literature and poetry, her interest in time her relation with literature and poetry, her interest in time itself. and of course all Fluxus artists tried to co-opt Cage itself. and of course all Fluxus artists tried to co-opt Cage just as dada attempted to co-opt duchamp. it is evident just as dada attempted to co-opt duchamp. it is evident from this short list that Cage crossed and melted not only from this short list that Cage crossed and melted not only the boundaries between art and life, but also between the boundaries between art and life, but also between media, genres, and categories. it is interesting to see the media, genres, and categories. it is interesting to see the wide range of disciplines Cage affected.wide range of disciplines Cage affected.
in the words of some other artists:in the words of some other artists:
Composer alvin lucier: Composer alvin lucier: “…(John Cage has) that kind of force “…(John Cage has) that kind of force of saying to you: you got to try things, it doesn’t matter if it of saying to you: you got to try things, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work, it is more important to explore that. And so I did. doesn’t work, it is more important to explore that. And so I did. And that was a breakthrough. The breakthrough of my life.”And that was a breakthrough. The breakthrough of my life.”
Cartoonist Matt groening: Cartoonist Matt groening: “…and what John Cage taught me “…and what John Cage taught me was that there is a different way to approach life.”was that there is a different way to approach life.”
Musician John Zorn: Musician John Zorn: “…when I think about Cage… he was “…when I think about Cage… he was really the first influence, someone who opened all the doors for really the first influence, someone who opened all the doors for me and said, look: you can do anything.”me and said, look: you can do anything.”
writer heiner Müller: writer heiner Müller: “…and this edge was very very “…and this edge was very very important. And edges destroy borders, hmm?! But it could go important. And edges destroy borders, hmm?! But it could go wrong. Everything can go wrong. And I like that. The category wrong. Everything can go wrong. And I like that. The category of chance in Cage is very liberating.”of chance in Cage is very liberating.”77
a customer review on a customer review on Variations IVVariations IV: : “…This type of music “…This type of music is an amazing trip through an audio landscape. After several is an amazing trip through an audio landscape. After several plays of this disc, you’ll find yourself making the most plays of this disc, you’ll find yourself making the most fascinating, improbable mental connections between different fascinating, improbable mental connections between different sound sources. A fun disc. It may even inspire you to create sound sources. A fun disc. It may even inspire you to create something similar.”something similar.”
88
B – John Cage’s work is full of contradictions and B – John Cage’s work is full of contradictions and paradoxes, excellent fuel for the dynamism of any program. paradoxes, excellent fuel for the dynamism of any program. i understand that the lack of contradictions is dogma. his i understand that the lack of contradictions is dogma. his work runs in the tensions between freedom and discipline, work runs in the tensions between freedom and discipline, the objectivity of the composer and the subjectivity of the the objectivity of the composer and the subjectivity of the performer after his postulation of indeterminacy, between performer after his postulation of indeterminacy, between score and conductor. his practice seems to be able to score and conductor. his practice seems to be able to be executed by anyone, but especially by a genius like be executed by anyone, but especially by a genius like david tudor. one of the multiple paradoxes derived from david tudor. one of the multiple paradoxes derived from Cage’s thought is the relationship with the ego. while Zen Cage’s thought is the relationship with the ego. while Zen
75NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
practice some tools he learned from Marcel duchamp: applying chance to create a
musical composition; the concept of silence in relation to the Large Glass; the use of
readymades such as radios, recordings, or unconventional instruments. through his
works, all those elements became common use. these radical elements, together
with shifting the responsibility of authorship away from the composer and on to
the performer and even the audience, infiltrated culture in an anonymous way.
the use of these elements by artists—even those who seem completely at odds
with Cage’s way of working and aesthetic—testify to the way the Cage effect
permeated culture.C
in this sense, John Cage represents a pivotal moment in the history of twentieth-
century art. his works intensified and further developed the new era opened by the
rupture created by duchamp’s Fountain (1917) that changed the definition of art.
Cage, syncretizing duchamp’s revolutionary ideas with Zen philosophy, changed the
definition of music with his piece 4’33” (1952), four minutes and thirty-three seconds
of silence in three movements.3 echoing the transparent background of duchamp’s
Large Glass (started in 1912, the year of Cage’s birth, and declared “unfinished” in
1923), silence allows the world to be the background; the presence of the public in
the piece fulfills the creative act.4
a score needs to be executed by players. For Cage, the players constitute a new
sphere of influence; the composer cannot only try to influence the audience, but
also the performer. this point is of extreme importance as it transfers momentary
authorship to the performers. this transference applies to the spectator as well.
silence is, for Cage, the moment in which the exterior world is allowed to get into
the work: during any performance of 4’33”, each spectator will automatically become
a performer, either by action (noise) or omission (silence). the interpenetration is
complete when, in 4’33”, the performer turns into spectator as well, a spectator of
both the audience and the world. 4’33” urges a state of awareness and responsibility,
to understand the world as a whole, blurring the distinction between art and life—
the music and the silence (or the surrounding noise in the auditorium),
the performer and the viewer, all are part of the same scenario.
another musical operation Cage implemented was to abandon harmony in order
to open music to chance—to extinguish the artist’s personality, his memory, and
his desires—in other words, refusing authorship. Cage’s intentions were to break
down the barriers between art and life, postulating a state of enhanced awareness,
opening mind and art to chaos. although between 1949 and 1951 Cage attended the
lectures of Master daisetz suzuki on Zen philosophy at Columbia university in New
york,d he later declared: “what i do, i do not wish blamed on Zen, though without
my engagement on Zen…i doubt whether i would have done what i have done…
i mention this in order to free Zen of any responsibility for my actions.”5
the use of chance operations works against the generation of a critical act. in
Cage’s own words, a piece not consciously organized is “… therefore not subject
advocates for the suppression of the ego, in Cage there is advocates for the suppression of the ego, in Cage there is a strong affirmation of it, starting with giving entity to the a strong affirmation of it, starting with giving entity to the performers, a kind of “momentary authorship,” either by performers, a kind of “momentary authorship,” either by separating the performers in order to act, in his own words, separating the performers in order to act, in his own words, as brave and not as sheep, or by giving each performer the as brave and not as sheep, or by giving each performer the possibility to determine her position as central—adopting possibility to determine her position as central—adopting Cunningham’s idea of the lack of fixed points in space Cunningham’s idea of the lack of fixed points in space (taken in turn from einstein’s theories).(taken in turn from einstein’s theories).99
there is also another paradox here: the suppression there is also another paradox here: the suppression of the idea of authorship—of extinguishing the artist’s of the idea of authorship—of extinguishing the artist’s personality, memories, and desires—turned Cage into personality, memories, and desires—turned Cage into one of the most influential authors of the century. if one of the most influential authors of the century. if the creative process is always a poor emulation of the the creative process is always a poor emulation of the non plus ultranon plus ultra god’s creation of humanity from mud, the god’s creation of humanity from mud, the silent Mycologist had no less of a divine desire of trying silent Mycologist had no less of a divine desire of trying to control chance. the elimination of authorship is a to control chance. the elimination of authorship is a performative contradiction, proven mathematically by performative contradiction, proven mathematically by heisenberg’s uncertainty principle: the need to provide heisenberg’s uncertainty principle: the need to provide a point of view in order to make an assertion makes a point of view in order to make an assertion makes subjectivity unavoidable, even in science. Needless to say subjectivity unavoidable, even in science. Needless to say this text is, as well, a flagrant contradiction with the spirit this text is, as well, a flagrant contradiction with the spirit of the show, in discussing ideas that beg to be transmitted of the show, in discussing ideas that beg to be transmitted in an experiential way.in an experiential way.
C – a good example of an artist opposite to Cage is C – a good example of an artist opposite to Cage is Chantal akerman. Chantal akerman.
akerman’s work pivots around three main axes: structural akerman’s work pivots around three main axes: structural filmmaking, the reconstruction of life under Communism, filmmaking, the reconstruction of life under Communism, and Feminism. in other words, a clearly determined and Feminism. in other words, a clearly determined program and clearly opposed to the non-programmatic program and clearly opposed to the non-programmatic one of Cage, if we can call the elimination of authorship one of Cage, if we can call the elimination of authorship a non-program.a non-program.
Quoting akerman scholar ivone Margulies quoting Quoting akerman scholar ivone Margulies quoting akerman: “what i did in akerman: “what i did in Jeanne DielmanJeanne Dielman are actions in real are actions in real time: the fixed camera is not, for me, that different from… time: the fixed camera is not, for me, that different from… warhol.” according to Margulies, in the early films of the warhol.” according to Margulies, in the early films of the Belgian filmmaker the issue of performance is a byproduct Belgian filmmaker the issue of performance is a byproduct of a fixed, oblivious, and unmotivated camera modeled on of a fixed, oblivious, and unmotivated camera modeled on warhol and on structural filmmaking.warhol and on structural filmmaking.
the author mentions a division between two tendencies the author mentions a division between two tendencies in ’60s and ’70s art, on one side: “Fluxus group’s and in ’60s and ’70s art, on one side: “Fluxus group’s and John Cage’s performances, allan kaprow’s happenings, John Cage’s performances, allan kaprow’s happenings, and New american dance (yvonne rainer, simone and New american dance (yvonne rainer, simone Forti, lucinda Childs, Merce Cunningham) all advance Forti, lucinda Childs, Merce Cunningham) all advance the recognition that simultaneity—a co-presence of the recognition that simultaneity—a co-presence of events internal and external to the text—can effect a events internal and external to the text—can effect a nondirected field of spectator response, frustrating the nondirected field of spectator response, frustrating the acknowledgment of authorship and intention… in the acknowledgment of authorship and intention… in the second, minimalist tendency, simplified shapes, single second, minimalist tendency, simplified shapes, single events, and series of repeated images or forms seem both events, and series of repeated images or forms seem both to block interpretation and to mock the immediacy of to block interpretation and to mock the immediacy of apprehension proposed in modernist art. the spectator’s apprehension proposed in modernist art. the spectator’s extended gaze over holistic forms displaces the burden extended gaze over holistic forms displaces the burden of decentering entirely onto his or her perceptual and of decentering entirely onto his or her perceptual and physical relation to the art object.”physical relation to the art object.”1010
76 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
to analysis.”6 Cage’s critical—and political—act in choosing to employ a system of
chance operations is anti-authoritarian. in Cage’s work, politics is found in the form.
the form is the message. a form that allows an indeterminate number of correct
interpretations considerably complicates facile classification.
John Cage is one of those artists who affected society by infecting countless
artists who in turn developed their practices through the operations introduced
directly by him, either via direct exposure to Cage’s oeuvre, or by using the
procedures initiated and authorized by Cage without knowing their origin. even
those stances that were antithetical to his own have adopted and adapted his
operations to suit their own practice. through his ubiquitous yet imperceptible
presence, John Cage effects the most paradoxical of his operations: this anonymous
infiltration is his greatest influence on culture.
Notes
1 Richard Kostelanetz, “The Anarchist Art of John Cage,” 1993
http://sterneck.net/john-cage/kostelanetz/index.php
2 Michael Hardt; Antonio Negri, Empire (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), 325–350.
3 4’33” is Cage’s most important work, in his own words. “Because you don’t need it in order to hear it.”
Stephen Montague: “John Cage at Seventy: An interview,” American Music (New York, NY: UbuWeb
Papers) 1985.
4 “MR: Do you think your idea of silence has anything to do with Duchamp’s?
JC: Looking at the Large Glass, the thing that I like so much is that I can focus my attention whenever I wish.
It helps me to blur the distinction between art and life and produces a kind of silence in the work itself.
There is nothing in it that requires me to look in our place or another or, in fact, requires me to look at all.
I can look through it to the world beyond. Well, this is, of course, the reverse in Étant Donnés.”
Moira Roth, Difference/Indifference: Musings on Postmodernism, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Overseas Publisher’s Association, 1998), 80.
5 John Cage, Silence: Lectures and Writings (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), 5.
6 John Cage, “Composition as Process–II. Indeterminacy” Silence, 35.
7 Henning Lohner, from the film The Revenge of the Dead Indians—In Memoriam John Cage, Mode,
New York, 2008.
8 http://www.amazon.com/Variations-IV-Performance-Gallery-Angeles/dp/B000QR0OSU
9 from Elliot Caplan’s documentary, Cage/Cunnigham film, 1991.
10 Ivone Margulies, Toward a Corporeal Cinema: Theatricality in the ‘70s [1]
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/themes/art_and_cinematography/akerman/print/
11 http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/thelongweekend2007/9028.htm
12 Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida—Reflections on Photography (New York: Hill and Wang), 1981.
13 Video by Nick Enright of the performance by students of Professor Joachim Pissarro and
conducted by Professor Geoffrey Burleson at Hunter College on December 5, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0BNsBlzQII
in the catalog of the 2007 tate Modernin the catalog of the 2007 tate Modern show show Sleep: Sleep: Warhol/Cage/SatieWarhol/Cage/Satie we find: “warhol was inspired to we find: “warhol was inspired to complete the film with a new repetitive editing structure complete the film with a new repetitive editing structure after attending the writer and composer John Cage’s after attending the writer and composer John Cage’s (1912–92) historic 1963 performance at the pocket theatre (1912–92) historic 1963 performance at the pocket theatre in New york of the French composer erik satie’s (1866–in New york of the French composer erik satie’s (1866–1925) epic repetitive work for piano, 1925) epic repetitive work for piano, Vexations,Vexations, 1893.” 1893.”1111
what interests me here is how Cage permeated the what interests me here is how Cage permeated the practices of artists on the opposite side of the street, practices of artists on the opposite side of the street, elements that have a huge importance in the structuring elements that have a huge importance in the structuring of a film. in 1977 akerman’s of a film. in 1977 akerman’s News from HomeNews from Home, those , those ultra long shots in the sultra long shots in the subway with an immobile camera ubway with an immobile camera are indeterminate, and in their indeterminacy resides are indeterminate, and in their indeterminacy resides their power, even if their later montage turns them to a their power, even if their later montage turns them to a determined category. the idea of boredom, which Cage determined category. the idea of boredom, which Cage took from satie’s took from satie’s VexationsVexations and from Zen, is also key and from Zen, is also key to the film.to the film.
i am not suggesting that Cage invented boredom and long i am not suggesting that Cage invented boredom and long indeterminate shots, but i do think that he authorized indeterminate shots, but i do think that he authorized those elements/tools/operations in western art.those elements/tools/operations in western art.
d – d – Documentary MusicDocumentary Music: the interpenetration betw: the interpenetration between een art and life started much earlier then his exposure to art and life started much earlier then his exposure to Master suzuki’s teachings. in his 1942 composition Master suzuki’s teachings. in his 1942 composition Credo in Us, Credo in Us, written for a dance choreographed by Merce written for a dance choreographed by Merce Cunningham, Cage utilized a partly prepared piano, Cunningham, Cage utilized a partly prepared piano, percussion, and his first use of radio or phonograph, percussion, and his first use of radio or phonograph, suggesting classical music, in the case of war or national suggesting classical music, in the case of war or national emergencies. it was written during wwii, seven months emergencies. it was written during wwii, seven months after pearl harbor, while all other musicians were creating after pearl harbor, while all other musicians were creating patriotic compositions, and Cage wanted to avoid those patriotic compositions, and Cage wanted to avoid those compositions and news programs. the inclusion of radio compositions and news programs. the inclusion of radio or phonograph represented an insult to the composers and or phonograph represented an insult to the composers and performers of the time, by treating live and recorded sound performers of the time, by treating live and recorded sound as being on equal footing. the combination of professional as being on equal footing. the combination of professional and amateur performers was also considered insulting and amateur performers was also considered insulting at the time.at the time.
live radio was in keeping with the inclusive model already live radio was in keeping with the inclusive model already explored by eastern artists and Zen aesthetics—the use of explored by eastern artists and Zen aesthetics—the use of radios in his pieces defines a completely new relationship radios in his pieces defines a completely new relationship between art and life: it is the invention of between art and life: it is the invention of Documentary Documentary MusicMusic. Music, as is true of most art works, is always . Music, as is true of most art works, is always anchored in a specific weave of space and time. the anchored in a specific weave of space and time. the random possibilities brought by radio turn any execution random possibilities brought by radio turn any execution of his pieces into a unique and unrepeatable experience, of his pieces into a unique and unrepeatable experience, and this uniqueness is due to the specificity provided and this uniqueness is due to the specificity provided by the time and place in which each piece is executed, by the time and place in which each piece is executed, a musical equivalent of the a musical equivalent of the studiumstudium defined by roland defined by roland Barthes for photographs.Barthes for photographs.1212 during a specific performance during a specific performance of of Credo in Us Credo in Us back in 2008, i learned both the weather back in 2008, i learned both the weather report and that the fact that the police had just captured a report and that the fact that the police had just captured a bunch of white supremacists who were trying to kill then–bunch of white supremacists who were trying to kill then–presidential Candidate Barack obama. in a recording of our presidential Candidate Barack obama. in a recording of our performance at hunter of performance at hunter of Imaginary Landscape IV Imaginary Landscape IV (1951)(1951), , a a piece for twelve radios, i learned about the music in vogue piece for twelve radios, i learned about the music in vogue at the time.at the time.1313
77NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
oN or aBout CagenessBy BiBi Calderaro
78 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
at a recent Quaker meeting, where approximately two hundred people sat in silence early in the
morning, it occurred to me that silence can be dealt with in two very different ways:
– as a humming of collective breaths where thought is allowed to grow and flow intersubjectively.
– as an imposed foreclosure, where thought is suppressed, where it becomes stale
due to lack of flow.
silence may be a gatekeeper, a repressive tool that blocks the flow that occurs in communication—
and silence may be an organic instrument that opens into the flow.
in the latter, silence gives access to thought processes that are otherwise overlooked for their
minuteness. it induces a flow of thought leading to the unpredictable: the seed of an idea. this
exploration of new territory is similar to what happens in nature, where the potential to encounter
an unknown is greater than in urban areas. the open air, the opener. the pioneer. thought flow is
unobstructed, taking the given as is, without expectations. the mind takes the form of the garden,
with the intention to listen and grow. silence is the field of possibilities, a method of multiplicity, a way
of inducing, enduring, multiplying the unique.
Methods of multiplicity: simplicity and complexity in the single instrument backed up by the
voices that echo the unmelodic resonances of its identities, its various identities: a piano that plays
like an orchestra; twelve radios synchronically played, one for each month of the year; four minutes
and thirty-three seconds of silence incubating the audience as parabola, a mechanism as methodic as
flexo-spastic its impact. a singularity that approaches infinity at the constant speed of light
in vacuum.
simplicity = multiple as single.
Complexity = empathy of the single with the singles.
life would be a very individualistic and quite impractical practice were it not for laughter and
love. these forces function as ballasts to create and balance collective authorship in society and in
art, allowing for the combination of multiplicity with singularity. For laughter to exist there needs to
be an other with whom to commune and reflect, and a common willingness not to take anything,
particularly oneself, too seriously; there needs to be a common understanding of the absurd in life. For
love to exist, there needs to be trust and a will to care beyond oneself.
the concept of love as a force of trust and enabling, laughter as that which allows the ego to
melt as it shakes the self (as with music), and silence as a tool that points to what has not yet been
taken into consideration, are all constants in John Cage’s work and philosophy. these three elements
directly relate to the effacement of the ego, a key ingredient in the Cagean undertaking of life as a
79NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
matter to be handled with the utmost degree of responsibility, an endeavor that requires the condition
of freedom to be as close to one hundred percent as humanly bearable. the pivotal element in all of
Cage’s work is the question of the utter responsibility inherent in freedom—freedom taken as the
only possible way to approach life as we know it: freedom to have the courage to make one’s life into
something other than an act of survival. the many layers of the span of his work embody not only the
individual search for joyful answers to this question but also the larger mise-en-scène of the forces
implicated in the game called life, envisioned by an anarchist whose interests included mushrooms,
indeterminacy, and intentionality.
indeterminacy is a cognitive precondition for a state of alertness, as it establishes an open set
of possibilities. alertness does not happen if one believes that all there is to take into account is
contained within the category of the already known, as alertness is precisely the state of allowing the
unknown, the unexpected, into an event. alertness has to do with one’s own idea of time and space.
time is not a causal arrow; synchronicity and indeterminacy are the elements that rule the chaotic
continuum of time. space as a human perception is not an absolute dimension, instead boundaries
are constantly fluctuating and exchanging energy. human beings are capable of grasping this, if
they remain alert to its minute cues. in such cases, the cultural structure history is relegated to the
background, and the process called Mind comes to the foreground. this process, this oscillating
state of l’arte-alert, is one of differentiation, identification, reflection. through it we learn to accept
and reject those instances referred to as “the world out there” from the membrane called self. it is a
process of identity-forming, where the boundaries between subject-subject and subject-object are
constantly being negotiated.
one can understand history through a particular teleology—say, indeterminacy—yet operate on
a daily basis with an ethics that resonates with a knowledge of equilibrium between oneself and the
other, a civic order that responds to individuality: because there is no outside pattern, each and every
one of us has the obligation to act responsibly to one another at all times. there is the imperative
to act responsibly within parameters that teach us to improve the relationship with the other: a
person, an animal, a plant, a mineral, the many artificial inventions that cling to our lives like they’re
indispensable. in keeping a balance, an equation, an identity of sides, this formula has been faltering
for centuries now. so far, we have always been handed down a debt.
Communicating vessels of multiples and singles behave much as in any other participation of
givens. peaceful interactions foster other peaceful interactions, whereas forceful interactions instigate
ever more aggressive behaviors. the exchange of the single with the singles occurs no matter what;
what differs is the frequency and the character, the notations that each instance abides. these have
developed by imitation over the thousands of years humans have inhabited earth. they continually
shape the inherited values that guide us in a peaceful journey or a troubled one.
80 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
love is an exchange among the single with the singles that as intentionality encourages the pacific.
a compassionate understanding of the other is what differentiates it from other types of exchanges.
love is the laborious meshing of singularities so that they can migrate from simple to complex and
back to simple, but now changed, the field included. a combinatory force of the simple and the
complex, love is the background and the foreground; it is field and perception. Bound in a continually
mutating state of embrace, one reality reacts and affects the others indefinitely, indeterminately. its
differential value is empathy. love is what remains when the day has gone, your wallet is thinner, your
power down. love is what makes the mark when you go through your day as reflected onto the mirror
that is all that reflects you.
wild-mushroom hunting is not the cure to all maladies. yet it might yield, in those who practice
it even as a brief experiment, a respect for and understanding of the direct relationships that each
of our own acts bestow upon ourselves and our environments (and which, in turn, affect in ripple-
like patterns other invisible landscapes). in an interview with Frank scheffer, Cage distinguishes his
understanding of indeterminacy as a teleology that is different from his need to counter it with a
practice that reflects one of human beings’ differentiating acts: that of choice; of responsibly selecting
from available options so that human life might endure as a highly developed form. and so he took up
wild-mushroom hunting.
early on, when this show was merely a distant possibility, the idea arose to highlight the need for a
space where attention and direct experience are nurtured: a space equivalent to Cage’s use of silence,
where silence is the framework that allows a moment in which the unknown may happen in the form
of other sounds, other colors, other cognitive connections. in other words, a space that nurtures
alertness. in order to incite a change of pace and direct experience, and some degree of freedom and
responsibility, we programmed outings to forage for wild mushrooms, followed by their communal
cooking and eating, as the core activity of this exhibition.
the open-air activity of hunting for mushrooms, ending in the shared cooking and eating of the
day’s harvest, nurtures the idea of communing, of growing beyond the self, of enhancing an ethics
of camaraderie among people who have just met. in spite of seasonal constraints, this activity still
manages to reinforce connections amongst participants where some effacement of egos may happen,
some responsible connections may endure (mostly as we decide which mushrooms are edible), and
some degree of laughter and love are exchanged. the forest bears the role of silent frame that allows
for noise (mushrooms, laughter, love) to rise.
even though silence does not exist in pure form in this world, the idea that the base of sounds
in a natural setting can be understood as silence reveals the framework in which noise is perceived:
that which disrupts the base. this is all music for Cage, both the base and the disruptions. wild
mushroom hunting is the activity by which one becomes attuned to disruptions by becoming alert to
where they grow. once one includes them in the field of perception, they pop up nonstop, just as with
81NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
sound: one usually blocks out ambient sounds until one starts paying attention to them, and then they
immediately come to the foreground.
within this landscape, silence allows us to hear what comes, allows us to be alert, while love
enables us to take into consideration what is not oneself, to rid us of the weight of the ego. Collaging
selves, arranging chaos and order in movement, conducting an orchestra of people, setting a
distance—a tempo—to individual energies, together yet alone. dismantling the cultural apparatus that
distances the object and the subject in the survival of a culture of self-reflecting, yet never touching,
subjectivities. abandoning the self to the collective as a volatile mass of willing powers, and to
laughter. dissolving agency in action by multiplying subjectivities. shattering the mirrors in which the
arrogant self is trapped.
this exchange, this search for an ecumenical economy, is proof that Cage did believe in harmony.
harmony for him was the balance—always an equilibrium is needed, an identity of sorts—of all
energies involved in a given situation. then he would cook his own bread, water his plants, and laugh
with his friends.
in the construction of freedom, that which cannot be experienced unless it is put in dire contrast
with its opposite—constraint—is translated as love—that which cannot be felt unless put in touch
with the other. the invisible and the inaudible used with the most transparent of all media: life. the
impermanent and the permeable as the fluctuating~flickering matter of its force.
if a master is one who creates volume where apparently there is a single plane—just as in nature
mushrooms pop up from the earth—in the methods used to shatter our cultural inheritance, the
artists in this show encourage us to enter the realm of the will, to vacate life of the meaningless void of
no intention.
Zen, zero, infinity, anarchy, will, egolessness, the void, can only be kneaded together with one part
laughter and another part love—such arch freedom.
unheard silence, given to noise—such life.
May (adverb of determinacy) we (pronoun, first person plural) be (verb that denotes the ontological way
of being alive, present tense) in (preposition of place –inner space-) peace (noun that signifies a harmonious
wellbeing in life in general, within and without).
so hoped for John.
82 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
John Cage, working on Sonatas & Interludes (1947)
8383
William Anastasi
b. 1933 philadelphia, pa. lives and works in New york, Ny
Sink, 1963
rusted steel, water
20 x 20 x 1/2” (50.8 x 50.8 x 1.3cm)
Collection of Michael straus
Soledad Arias
b. Buenos aires, argentina. lives and works in New york, Ny
phonetic neon [aha], 2011
white neon
40 x 1/4” (101.6 x 0.6cm)
Collection of the artist
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
b. 1961 Nice, France. lives and works in sète, France
Indexes (v. 1), 2012
pleyel piano p190 with pianodisc system, computer and
software
74 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 40 1/2” (189.2 x 151.1 x 102.9cm)
installation view, “index, virus, solidvideo, detail,”
paula Cooper gallery, New york, Ny (3/19-4/25/09)
Courtesy of the artist and paula Cooper gallery, New york
Indexes (v. 1) is presented in collaboration with Les Pianos Pleyel. The manufacturers of exclusive pianos in Paris since 1807, Les Pianos Pleyel are proud to have participated with Céleste Boursier-Mougenot as they continue to support musical and artistic creation.
John Cage
b. 1912 los angeles, Ca. d. 1992 New york, Ny
Untitled (640 numbers between 1 and 16), 1969
Ballpoint pen, pencil, and colored pencil on printed paper
11 x 8 1/2” (27.9 x 21.6cm)
the Museum of Modern art. the Judith rothschild
Foundation Contemporary drawings Collection gift
(purchase, and gift, in part, of the eileen and Michael Cohen
Collection)
Waltercio Caldas
b. 1946 rio de Janeiro, Brazil. lives and works
in rio de Janeiro
O transparente (da serie Veneza)
(The Transparent [from the Veneza Series]), 1997
stainless steel and acrylic over glass
79 1/8 x 59 7/8 x 59 7/8” (201 x 152 x 152cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
José Damasceno
b. 1968 rio de Janeiro, Brazil. lives and works
in rio de Janeiro
2 estudos sobre 1 dimensão perdida
(2 Studies on 1 Lost Dimension), 1996
iron and elastic cord
installation dimensions approximately 7’ 6 9/16” x 15’ 9 3/4”
x 35’ 3/16” (230 x 482 x 1080cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
Hanne Darboven
b. 1941 Munich, germany. d. 2009 in hamburg, germany
II-b, 1970-73
ink and typewriting on twenty-eight pieces of paper
28 panels: each 11 1/2 x 33” (29.3 x 83.8cm)
the Museum of Modern art. gift of ileana sonnabend
Matthew Deleget
b. 1972 hammond, iN. lives and works in New york, Ny
Monochrome (Sleeper Cells), 2007
latex paint on mirrored paper, and silver pushpins
40 x 8’ 4” (101.6 x 254cm) overall, each panel 40 x 32”
(101.6 x 81.3cm)
Courtesy of alejandra Von hartz gallery, Miami, Fl
Liz Deschenes
b. 1966 Boston, Ma. lives and works in New york, Ny
Tilt/Swing (360° field of vision, version 2), 2010
six unique silver toned black and white photograms
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Miguel abreu gallery
Felipe Dulzaides
b. 1965 havana, Cuba. lives and works in havana
Selected Video Works, 1999-2011
single channel video reel (looping video): Following an
Orange, 1999, 1’ 14”; Dialog with a Foghorn, 1999, 1’ 40”; Time
in My Hand, 2000, 2’ 13”; Blowing Things Away, 2001, 2’ 45”;
Unwind, 2003, 00’ 45”; Welcome to the Other Side, 2007, 4’
32”; In Between, 2011, 1’ 17”
Courtesy of the artist
León Ferrari
b. 1920 Buenos aires, argentina. lives and works
in Buenos aires
Colgante Escultura Sonora (Hanging Sound Instrument),
1979/2010
steel
118 1/8 x 15 3/4” (300 x 40 cm)
Courtesy of augusto and león Ferrari art & acquis
Foundation and haunch of Venison gallery
Robert Filliou
b. 1926 sauve, France; d. 1987 in les eyzies, France
Telepathic Music No. 5, 1976-1978
33 music stands, 32 playing cards, 34 small note cards
dimensions variable
the Museum of Modern art.
the gilbert and lila silverman Fluxus Collection gift
Yukio Fujimoto
b. 1950 Nagoya, Japan. lives and works in osaka, Japan
Ears with Chair, 1990
installation
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
Nicolás Guagnini
b. 1966 Buenos aires, argentina.
lives and works in New york
Gareth James
b. 1970 london, england. lives and works in British
Columbia, Canada
Break Even, 2006
intervention on artforum
10 1/2 x 10 1/2” (26.7 x 26.7cm)
private Collection
Lynne Harlow
b. 1968 attleboro, Ma. lives and works in providence, ri
and New york, Ny
BEAT, 2007
acrylic paint, drum kit, live performance with musicians
painted square 8’ 5” x 8’ 5” (245.1 x 245.1cm)
Courtesy of the artist and MiNus spaCe, Brooklyn, Ny
Douglas Huebler
b. 1924 ann arbor, Mi. d. 1997 truro, Ma
Variable Piece #70, 1971
Black-and-white photographs and typewriting on paper
17 5/16 x 40 1/8 x 1 3/16” (43.9 x 101.9 x 3cm)
the Museum of Modern art. partial gift of the daled
Collection and partial purchase through the generosity
of Maja oeri and hans Bodenmann, sue and edgar
wachenheim iii, Marlene hess and James d. Zirin, agnes
gund, Marie-Josée and henry r. kravis, and Jerry i. speyer
and katherine g. Farley
CheCklisT of The exhibiTionCheCklisT of The exhibiTion
84 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
David Lamelas
b. 1946 Buenos aires, argentina. lives and works
in los angeles, Ca
Limit of a Projection I, 1967
theater spotlight in darkened room
63 (160cm) to 74 3/4” (189.87cm) diameter
Collection walker art Center, Minneapolis. t. B. walker
acquisition Fund, 2009
Reiner Leist
b. 1964 west germany. lives and works in New york, Ny
Window Project, 1995-ongoing (work on loan
spans 1995-2005)
installation: film, glass, plexiglass, wood
and fluorescent lights
dimensions variable
installation view, Museum for photography Berlin, 2007
Courtesy Julie saul gallery and the artist
Jorge Macchi
b. 1963 Buenos aires, argentina. lives and
works in Buenos aires
Buenos Aires Tour, 2003
in collaboration with María Negroni (texts) and
edgardo rudnitzky (sound)
Mixed media: box, booklets, postcards,
map, Cd-rom, and stamps
dimensions variable
private Collection
Christian Marclay
b. 1955 san rafael, Ca. lives and works in london, england
and New york, Ny
Indian Point Road, 2004
single channel video
duration: 30 minutes
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and paula Cooper gallery, New york
Rivane Neuenschwander
b. 1967 Belo horizonte, Brazil. lives and
works in Belo horizonte
O trabalho dos dias/Day’s Work, 1998
gathered dust onto squares of adhesive vinyl
dimensions variable
Courtesy of tanya Bonakdar gallery, New york;
Fortes Vilaça gallery, são paulo; and
stephen Friedman gallery, london
Kaz Oshiro
b. 1967 okinawa, Japan. lives and works in los angeles, Ca
Orange Speaker Cabinets and Gray Scale Boxes (18 parts), 2009
acrylic and Bondo on stretched canvas
12 orange cabinets: 29 x 30 x 14 3/4” (73.7 x 76.2 x 37.5cm)
each; 6 gray scale boxes: 29 x 30 x 14 3/4” (73.7 x 76.2 x
37.5cm) each
Courtesy of the artist and galerie Frank elbaz
Edgardo Rudnitzky
b. 1956 Buenos aires, argentina. lives and
works in Berlin, germany
Octopus, 2008
turntable with four arms, each one with
its own speaker, vinyl records
37 7/8 x 24 7/8 x 24 7/8” (96.2 x 63.2 x 63.2cm)
Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros
Fred Sandback
b. 1943 Bronxville, Ny. d. 2003 New york, Ny
Untitled (Sculptural Study, Two-part Vertical Construction),
c. 1986/2008
Black acrylic yarn
spatial relationship established by the artist,
overall dimensions vary with each installation
estate of Fred sandback; Courtesy of
david Zwirner, New york
Frank Scheffer
b. 1956 Venlo, the Netherlands. lives and
works in amsterdam, the Netherlands
From Zero: Four Films on John Cage, 1995
dVd
duration: 84 minutes
Collection of the artist
Ushio Shinohara
b. 1932 tokyo, Japan. lives and works in New york, Ny
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
Courtesy of the artist and ethan Cohen Fine arts
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
Courtesy of the artist and ethan Cohen Fine arts
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
Courtesy of the artist and ethan Cohen Fine arts
Ushio Shinohara (continued)
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
ethan Cohen Collection
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
private Collection
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
private Collection
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
private Collection
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
private Collection
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
private Collection
Coca-Cola Plan, 2011
Mixed media
28 1/8 x 25 13/16 x 2 9/16” (71.5 x 65.5 x 6.5cm)
private Collection
Linda Stillman
b. 1948 New york, Ny. lives and works in New york and
hillsdale, Ny
Daily Paintings, detail: 2007, 2007
acrylic and gouache on paper mounted on panels
365 panels: 77 x 47 x 3/8” (195.6 x 119.4 x 1cm) overall
Collection of the artist
Daniel Wurtzel
b. 1962 washington, d.C. lives and works in Brooklyn, Ny
Pas de Deux, 2011
Fabric, air
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
85NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
Notations: The Cage Effect Today has been an ambitious undertaking three years in the making and we are
tremendously grateful for the generous contributions from the many individuals who helped make this
exhibition possible.
this project was incubated in professor Joachim pissarro’s 2008 graduate seminar and we are grateful to the
student participants, and for the ongoing collaboration of professor geoffrey Burleson, director of piano studies, hunter
College Music department, who co-taught the class. Bill abdale, Nayantara Bhattacharya, david duncan, Cara Manes,
and steven rose, were especially crucial voices during the early stages of exhibition planning.
the present exhibition stems directly from another Cage seminar (fall 2011) in which the hypothesis of “the Cage
effect” on contemporary art—globally—was being tested systematically. we thank renata Contins and alex Niemetz,
who assisted on all aspects of this subsequent course, from which this publication was formed and applaud all the
students for their contributions to the catalogue: Claire Bergeal, Claire Breukel, Matthew Cianfrani, tryn Collins, Julie
dentzer, sydney gilbert, Zachary hale, Misa Jeffereis, raphael Moser, reid strelow, annie wischmeyer, and Jennifer
wolf. the patricia phelps de Cisneros professor of latin american art, harper Montgomery’s critical contribution has
helped us explore a new avenue of research on John Cage’s presence on the latin american continent.
indeed, the hypothetical premise of the 2011 seminar was met with surprisingly wide results: the exhibition and
accompanying catalogue feature the work of 28 internationally based artists, reflecting the broad scope of Cage’s
influence across generations, regions, disciplines, and all media. our deep felt appreciation extends to the participating
artists and the many lenders who generously loaned works to the exhibition: Miguel abreu gallery, tanya Bonakdar
gallery, the Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros, paula Cooper gallery, ethan Cohen Fine arts, galerie Frank elbaz,
stephen Friedman gallery, alejandra Von hartz gallery, haunch of Venison gallery, MiNus spaCe, the departments
of drawings and prints and illustrated Books at the Museum of Modern art, the Fred sandback estate and the david
Zwirner gallery, New york, Julie saul gallery, Michael straus, galeria Fortes Vilaça, and the walker art Center. the
following individuals were also instrumental in the procurement of loans and we are deeply grateful to each of them:
anthony allen, gabriel perez Barreiro, kathy Curry, spring dautel, peter eleey, henrique Faría, hiroko ikegami, greg
lulay, and gretchen wagner. we also would like to thank laura kuhn, executive director, John Cage trust, for her
solicitous help to secure important permission rights and for her support of the project at large. No project on Cage can
happen without Margarete roeder whose knowledge and passion for her two friends, John and Merce, are invaluable.
special thanks must be extended to lin arison, Founder of the National Foundation for advancement in the arts,
whose generous support has been extended not only to this exhibition but towards the gallery programming at large.
her executive director, paul lehr also receives our hearty thanks—as do the youngarts Fellows sali amabebe and
Nicole Mourino, who have contributed to the elaboration of this complex show.
this project’s principal new contribution to scholarship on John Cage is to have begun to establish how wide his
presence (or “effect”) has been, and continues to be on the latin american continent. we are profoundly grateful to
patricia phelps de Cisneros for her generosity in supporting aspects of the project that further this dialogue—but also,
for her own personal vision, commitment, and encouragement of all intellectual projects that deepen and enrich our
understanding of the complexities of the arts in latin america.
aCknowledgmenTsaCknowledgmenTs
86 NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
there are many people within the hunter College community whose support made this project possible. First, our
heartfelt thanks go to Jennifer J. raab, president of hunter College, for her ongoing patronage of the hunter College art
galleries and its programming—and for her unwavering support to this project. our provost, Vita rabinowitz, and our
dean of arts and sciences, erec koch, have always availed their precious time and attention to help with this project.
thanks are also due to reuben Blundell, director of the hunter symphony; andrew lund, assistant professor Film &
Media studies, and ivone Margulies, associate professor, Film & Media studies for their insights and collaboration
relating to the events accompanying the exhibition. we thank dan streible, associate professor, tisch Cinema studies
program, New york university, who collaborated with us to organize an artist talk with Frank scheffer.
in the hunter College art department, our gratitude must first be directed to all members of the gallery Committee
for their crucial endorsement and support of the exhibition proposal. harper Montgomery, the patricia phelps de
Cisneros professor in latin american art, has been an essential and welcome collaborator throughout the planning
process and we are indebted to her for her keen suggestions for additional loans within this exhibition. we are also
most appreciative of thomas weaver, Chair of the art department, and Jeffrey Mongrain, interim Chair of the art
department, who lent their generous support to this project. as well, we would like to also thank katy siegel, professor
of art history and Chief Curator of the hunter College art galleries, for her invaluable advice and suggestions
throughout the planning process, and her commitment to rigorous scholarship.
at the hunter College art gallery, we are most appreciative of the dedication and careful work of karli
wurzelbacher, assistant Curator. special thanks are also due to Jessica gumora, Curatorial assistant to the director,
for her solicitous help, especially relating to fundraising initiatives. additional thanks go to phi Nguyen and his staff for
their preparation and installation of this complex project. illana hester, Coordinator of the youngarts program at hunter
College deserves our thanks for her assistance with the website and public programs.
the dynamic design of this catalogue is credited to the talents of tim laun and Natalie wedeking and we thank
them for their steadfast collaboration. Many thanks must also be extended to Claire Barliant for her meticulous
editing skills. Bibi Calderaro would like to express special thanks to Nova Benway and Jeanne Marie wasilik for their
generous support during the writing of her essay. Julio grinblatt salutes Nicolás guagnini and iair rosenkranz for their
keen insights regarding the project at large. thanks also to Nina grinblatt, for her patience and cheerful disposition
throughout the planning process. Natalia Chorny and edward Mapplethorpe deserve special thanks for their support.
the fruition of this project would simply not have been possible without the generous financial supporters of the
exhibition and catalogue. these include generous contributions from youngarts, the core program of the National
Foundation for advancement in the arts (NFaa), Colección patricia phelps de Cisneros, the Foundation to-life, and the
hunter College exhibition Fund. additional support for public programming was provided by the hunter College arts
across the Curriculum pilot initiative, created through a grant from the andrew w. Mellon Foundation. we wish here
to take this opportunity to thank agnes gund for her ongoing patronage of the hunter College art galleries—and to
their publications. we salute her for her valiant support of the arts and in particular her commitment to champion the
inimitable legacy of John Cage.
Joachim Pissarro, Bibi Calderaro, Julio Grinblatt, and Michelle Yun
87NotatioNs: THE CAGE EFFECT TODAY
1912 – 1992
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