THE INDETERMINATE MIND OF JOHN CAGE

MULTIPLICITY

MULTIPLICITYMULTIPLICITY

MULTIPLICITYTHE INDETERMINATE MIND OF JOHN CAGE

C O N T E N T S

Introduction

There Is No Silence Now,JillJohnston,1962

John Cage: Some Random Remarks,RichardKostelanetz,1970

Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel,BarbaraRose,1969

TimelineofJohnCage’sLife

Bibliography

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on what was considered sound or com-position. This book aims to emphasize the thought behind each indeterminate piece and the idea that compositions, both in music and art, need not always have one planned result. The pages of this book directly reflect Cage’s Var-iations I & II, each of which applied graphic elements to his idea of ‘chance operations’ and allowed each interaction to gain a unique experience.

J O H N C A G Erevolutionized art, music, literature, and poetry through his experimental thinking and constant push to chall-enge accepted definitions. The use of indeterminacy and chance factors in his work became an integral part of his thought process. By removing himself as the composer and allowing predeter-mined variables to play out randomly, Cage was able to reach another realm of music that forced new boundaries

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indeterminacy – which release him from his own psychology, taste, and permit the natural flow of impermanencies as they impress themselves on a mind empty of memories, ideas, and preconceptions; in short, empty. “If one maintains secure possession of nothing (what has been called poverty of spirit) then there is no limit to what one may freely enjoy.” Cage views the tradition of art in the West as an imposition on the viewer

– forcing him to respond in a special way rather than making a situation of many possibilities. Particular emotional responses are inevitable, and, when the situation is indeterminate, each viewer

The pride of the West is bound up in the “profundities” resulting from the application of mind over the brute forces of nature. Now that this pride has been shattered by so many instances of irrationality in human nature and by discoveries pointing to the finitude of human knowledge, the most advanced thought and art of our time brings man back to his proper situation within nature. Cage achieves this position through external (as distinct from subconscious or “automatic”) techniques – methods of chance and

One of the most difficult lectures in Silence is “Indeterminacy” (given in Germany in 1958), set, like his other lectures, in a unique structure and typescript (in this case, “intentionally pontifical”: small print) and examining in concise detail the degrees to which he finds each of several compositions (by Bach, Stockhausen, Earle Brown, Christian Wolff, Morton Feldman, and himself) to be “indeterminate with respect to its performance.” Cage’s heresy, of course, is his partial, sometimes total, abdication of will.

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the nature of the “new music” that must have been well taken, by some at least, at the performance of his silent piece. Regarding the extreme result of silence in music, Robert Ashley, a composer, made a striking statement at an interview with Cage in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He said: “It seems to me that your influence on contemporary music, on ‘musicians,’ is such that

expression of that necessity. It is a piece “in three movements during all three of which no sounds are intentionally produced. The lengths of time were determined by chance operations but could be any others.” In this piece, Cage makes everybody present (audience) the creator and the performer. It is doubtful that too many people would by interested in paying their money to listen to themselves (coughing, chair-creaking) for an entire evening. But Cage made an important point about

will make his own experience out of it. The question, as always, arises: What is the point of making anything at all, since at any moment the world is teeming with possibilities for experience? For Cage, the answer is that there is no point, it is simply something to do, which means that living and making a thing are not two separate acts. And if everybody can do it, then let everybody,

“for the more, as is said, the merrier.” Cage’s adventurous intellect has brought him beyond the necessity of doing anything (in the Western sense of “striving”), and, in some sense, his music propounds the necessity of doing nothing. His silent piece, 4’ 33”, is an

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“I COMPOSE YES, BUT HOW?

YES, BUT HOW?

I GAVE UP MAKING CHOICES.

IN THEIR PLACE I PUT THE

ASKING OF QUESTIONS.”

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“I COMPOSE YES, BUT HOW?

YES, BUT HOW?

MUSIC.

insights, or rambles coherently about nothing, as he does in “Lecture on Nothing” – and, in so doing, he brings us some of the most crystal-cut prose of contemporary writing; that which comes close to, if it is not, poetry, because of its lucid condensation, its quicksilver transaction between thought and world.

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the entire metaphor of music could change to such an extent that – time being uppermost as a definition of music – the ultimate result would be a music that wouldn’t necessarily involve anything but the presence of people. That is, it seems to me that the most radical redefinition of music that I could think of would be one that defines

‘music’ without reference to sound.” The influence of John Cage, in the thought and action of many corners of contemporary art, is immense. One reason for this influence, I’m convinced, is his command of language. He has spoken eloquently for advanced music,

his own ideas, and methods; for dance; for those who also enjoy life and like to hear somebody like Cage talk about it; for those who are also stimulated by the Eastern philosophies, Zen in particular; and for those who also sense the need for a life based on experience rather than judgment. There is no logic in Cage’s lectures (unless it be the logic of style, which is everywhere in evidence); he merely describes situations, or gives spontaneous voice to convictions and

“AS FAR AS CONSISTENCY OF THOUGHT GOES, I PREFERINCONSISTENCY.”

tween musical sounds and verbalized words. Here the form of the work ex-presses part of its ultimate content, as a performance illustrates (as opposed to explains) the piece’s declarative title and Cage’s aesthetic position; therefore, the ninety funny stories, which are

ways of organizing and rendering words. An instance of this is “Indeterminacy” (1958), consisting of ninety funny stories, each of which, by self-imposed rule, will be a minute in length when read aloud. When Cage performs this piece on a Folkways record of that title (1959), while David Tudor makes random noises in another room, “Indeterminacy” is very much about variations in prose tempo, as well as the random interactions be-

Adopting the musical notion of un- ashamedly artificial constraints to lit- erary purposes, Cage posits unprece-dented ground rules that serve to emancipate him from conventional

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“AS FAR AS CONSISTENCY OF THOUGHT GOES, I PREFERINCONSISTENCY.”

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7pleasurable in themselves and comic to various degrees, are just the surface occasion for less obvious, but more substantial, concerns. Here, as in much else of Cage, the unperceptive spectator can be deceived into accepting the surface as all of the point – as silence is simply no sound, so stories are just anecdotes; but more significant meaning are invariably implied or inferred, by the piece, the spectator, or both. However, to put these stories into conventional print, as Cage does in

Silence, destroys much of their primary effect (corrupting their original purpose even more than recordings of Cage’s recent pieces betray, as fixed renditions, their scored indeterminacy); and, in the traditions of printed literature, ninety funny anecdotes within a larger frame comprise no innovation at all. Similarly,

another performance piece, “Juilliard Lecture” (1952), published in the new book, is in its printed form all but unreadable, as is “Talk I” (1965), which, as Cage’s head note reveals, was not intended to be understood anyway.

“FORM IS WHAT INTERESTS EVERYONE AND FORTUNATELY IT IS

WHEREVER YOU ARE AND THERE IS NO PLACE WHERE IT IS

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pretation open to the psychology and experiences of the individual viewer, he destroyed the symbolic and meta-phoric basis on which art since the Renaissance has rested. When he used chance as a means of composing, he undermined the traditional method by which Western art was structured. When he proposed that radical func-tion was of greater significance today than a given radical form, he exposed the rhetoric of formalism as merely a revolutionary posture. Of course, Cage would be the first to admit that he is not alone in making the revolution. But he has been especially effective in communicating his radical ideas through his music, lectures, and writing. Now he has begun to explore some of his own principles in a visual medium. Characteristically, he enlar-ges the occasion of making something beyond the object—to extend his thinking about art and life in general.

it is also logical that his first art objects should be multiples, editions available to the many as opposed to “the happy few.” That Cage has created revolution, not only in music, but in all the arts cannot be denied. He has formulated a new attitude toward the subject matter, content, composition, and function of art. When he advised artists to leave their ivory towers and look at the world around them again, he attacked the century-long alienation of the artist from society. When he refused to impose a set meaning to content, but left inter-

One can think of John Cage in many ways. More than a composer, he has been philosopher, poet, inventor, teacher, prophet (true or false, depending on one’s viewpoint). Given his wide range of activity, the idea of John Cage as a visual artist does not seem so strange. Rather it seems merely another extension of a multidimensional personality defying the limitations of a one-dimensional world. One is not surprised to find Cage making graphics; the odd thing perhaps is to find him the last to use his own discoveries in creating an object. Since much of his activity has been directed toward breaking the hold of any elite,

“FORM IS WHAT INTERESTS EVERYONE AND FORTUNATELY IT IS

WHEREVER YOU ARE AND THERE IS NO PLACE WHERE IT IS

NOT.”

Above all, Cage’s graphics prove that artistic freedom is yet another illusion. Not even the artist is free of himself, his tastes, memories, and associations. The decision to avoid something is not enough, if the artist’s individual sens-ibility asserts itself even in a situation determined by change. Cage’s first visual works are proof of his original premise: We must accept, since we are not free to avoid anything.

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In making these lithographs and plexigrams, Cage explores specific problems. He is especially interested in the use of chance as a means of determining image, composition, and color, but he is also examining the problem of meaning and a way of behaving as well. By posing himself the problem of creating an homage to his late friend Marcel Duchamp without referring to Duchamp, he is asking what happens when one avoids something deliberately. Among the things he is trying to avoid are conscious choice, taste, harmony, and quality as deliberately imposed elements. The result of Cage’s investigation surely proves that the artist asserts himself even in negation. For the lithographs and plexigrams he has produced have quality, harmony, order, and taste. Above all, they remind one of Duchamp—their suspended images creating a feeling of three-dimensional forms floating in free space reminiscent of Duchamp’s experiments with perception and illusionism. Permitting a work to occur, as opposed to imposing an order, he has produced an extremely personal object, delicate in tone, original in color, excellent in workmanship.

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JOHN CAGE(1912-1992)

1929 19311912 JohnCageis bornonSeptem- ber5thinLosAnge- les,California.His fatherisaninventor,andhismotherisahousewife.

Disillusioned withcollege, Cagedropsoutand spendsthenext18 monthsinEurope,work-ingasanarchitect’sappren-ticeanddabblinginmusic.

Afterreading WaltWhitman’s “LeavesofGrass,” Cageisinspiredtore- turntotheUnitedStatesanddevotehimselftolearningmusiccomposition.

Cagefindsa jobtheCornish SchoolArtsinSeattle, Washington.Inaddi- tiontodiscoveringtheprofoundimpactofsilence,helearnsthewaysofZenBuddhism.

Cageinvents the“prepared piano”—anoth- erwisenormalpiano withvariousobjectsinsert-edbetweenthestrings,effectivelytransformingtheinstrumentintoapercussionorchestra.

WithCunning hambyhisside, Cagejoinsthefaculty ofBlackMountain College.Itistherethathecomposeshismostfamous(andnotorious)work,4’33”.

Cagebegins experimenting withindeterminacy inhismusic,applyingtheideasofZenBuddhismtohiswork.

Cagewriteshis firstlarge-scale work,theConcertofor PreparedPianoandChamberOrchestra.

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1953 1955

1940 1943 1945

1935 1935 Cagebegins sittinginon classestaughtby ArnoldSchoenberg.He formsapercussionen-sembleandinvitesSchoen-bergtooneofhisperfor-mances,butSchoenbergdeclineshisinvitations.

Cagemarries XeniaAndreyevna Kashevaroffinthe desertatYuma,Arizona onJune7th.

Cagecomposes “LivingRoom Music”forpercussion andspeechquartet.It waswrittenforcommonobjectsonewouldfindinhisorherlivingroom.

OneofCage’s mostsignificant preparedpianoworks, “ThePerilousNight,”iscomposed.Cagecalleditan“autobiographical”piece,inthatitexpressedtheanxietyhewasexperiencinginhispersonallife.

Cagedivorces hiswifeXenia.He meetsthechoreo- grapherMerceCunning ham,andembarksonapersonalandprofessionalrelationshipthatcontinuesfortherestofhislife.

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Cagemovesto thecountryand getsinvolvedthestudy ofmushrooms.Withthe helpofthreefriends,hefoundstheNewYorkMycologicalSociety.

Cagebegins collaboratingwith artistsanddesigners whohavelittleorno backgroundinmusic,drawingontheircreativityforhisexperimentalcompositions.

“MY FATHER TOLD ME THAT IF SOMEONE SAYS ‘CAN’T’

1981

1962 1967 1969 Cagebegins publishinghis musicandwritings, andbeginstocreate someofhislargestandmostambitiousworks.

Cagecreates hismusicalfree- for-all,“Musicircus.” Featuringmultiple performersinalargespace,thescoredirectseveryoneinvolvedtosimultaneouslyperformanythingtheywant.

Cagemakesan impressiononthe modernartscene withhisplexiglass-en casedsilkscreencreation,“NotWantingtoSayAnythingAboutMarcel.”

Cagewrites “ThirtyPiecesfor 5Orchestras.”Each pieceisnomorethan 75seconds,andeachorchestraisdirectedbyadifferentconductor.

THAT SHOWS YOU WHAT TO DO.”

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“MY FATHER TOLD ME THAT IF SOMEONE SAYS ‘CAN’T’

1982 1990 1992

THAT SHOWS YOU WHAT TO DO.”

1975 1976 Alwayscloseto nature,Cagewrites “ChildofTree,”animprovisatoryworkthat usesplantmaterialforinstruments.

TheBoston Symphonypre mieresCage’sQuar tetsI-VIII,whichuse upto93players—butemployonlyfourofthematanygiventime.

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“WalltoWall Cage”ispresented atSymphonySpacein NewYorkCity,bringing togethermanyofCage’s friendsandcollaboratorsfora13-hourconcertinhonorofhis70thbirthday.

Cagecontinues tocomposewell intohis70s,writing “TheBeatles1962-1970,” asixpianoworkcomprisedofrandompartsofBeatlessongs.

JohnCagedies ofastrokeinNew YorkCityattheage of79.Threeweekslater thereisaperformanceofthe“ConcertforPianoandOrchestra”withDavidTudor.

©Copy r ight2012StephanieSchlimandMassachuset tsCollegeofAr t&Design.BookdesignbyStephanieSchlim.

Ty pesetinThesisandFr utiger.

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24PageAccordionFold ,HardCover.Pr intedonFrenchPaperCompanyPop-Tone“SweetTooth”Tex t-Weight.

B I B L I O G R A P H YKostelanetz,Richard,andJohnCage.John Cage.NewYork:Praeger,1970.Print.

Kostelanetz,Richard.Conversing with Cage.NewYork:LimelightEditions,1988.Print.

Cage,John.Silence; Lectures and Writings.Middletown,CT:WesleyanUP,1973.Print.

“JohnCage.Indeterminacy.”LittleCambridgeportDesignFactory.Ed.EddieKohler.Web.<http://www.lcdf.org/indeterminacy>.