Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

[Semih Firincioglu <>]

Hi Daniel, I read the article. It has been a very long time now but I think
you are right, I don't remember seeing synthesizers with ugly wiring, etc.
There used to be a table in the middle, by the little forest, and kitchen on
the side, where a big pot of soup simmered at all times (and tasted
absolutely awful from my point of view). All these can be answered by Andrew
Culver of course, if he is on this list.

Perloff's article seems to be shifty, I couldn't figure out her point. She
refers to Carolyn Brown's book a lot. Frankly, I have a hard time
understanding why Brown was bitter about Cunningham's matter-of-factness and
why Perloff is making a big deal out of it. It was very well known that his
mind was obsessively occupied by bodies moving in space and everything else
was a distraction to him. I have heard from so many people that dancers were
just bodies for him and he could bring them in or out just like that. Good
or bad, but I am a bit surprised that Brown was surprised by this ‹ although
I don't know anything about the dynamics in the old days.

Similarly, Perloff seems to be surprised about Cage's meticulousness in the
execution of his chance-determined work. I also read in a review of Brown's
book that she says she was annoyed when Cage scolded her about not doing
something as instructed, which was randomly decided after all. Didn't Brown
know that this was Cage 101?

Perloff writes that a couple with a baby were asked to leave and a woman in
high heels was asked to take them off during the 1992 Standford performance.
I just can't imagine John stopping his performance to tell someone to leave
or to take her shoes off, but I can imagine people in the audience telling
all sorts of things to each other. Indeed, Cage's performances, especially
his readings turned the audiences into spectacles: I remember watching
furious people ready to strangle those who were talking or giggling or
leaving when he did Muoyce at the Whitney in 1984.

Semih


On 11/23/10 6:31 AM, "Daniel Wolf" 
<>
 wrote:

> Marjorie Perloff has an article online, "Constructed Anarchy", here:
> http://www.lanaturnerjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=
> 52:perloffconstructedanarchy&catid=37:issue34&Itemid=54
> While the topic is close to my own interests, I'd like to hold off on
> comment until I've digested it better.  In the meantime, however, there is
> one sentence that strikes me as odd. Perloff writes about the
> Cage/Cunningham apartment that:
> 
> "This ³living area² was complemented by two others:  one, a kind of
> technology center, was full of synthesizers, tape recorders, and computer
> equipment, with much ugly wiring:  here Cage worked out his now
> electronically chance-generated compositions."
> 
> 
> Is this description accurate?  The computers were there for sure, but
> synthesizers and tape recorders?  Could anyone on this list verify this?
> 
> Daniel Wolf