silence@virginia.edu
Subject: Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.
List archive
- From: Andrew Culver <culver@anarchicharmony.org>
- To: Rod Stasick <rod@stasick.org>
- Cc: silence <silence@virginia.edu>
- Subject: Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results
- Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2022 20:46:07 +0000
- Authentication-results: eifmailue2p2.az.virginia.edu; spf=pass (virginia.edu: domain of 0102017fcd2102cd-4669ea3c-01b9-4cf8-9c00-f30f50b3fd22-000000@eu-west-1.amazonses.com designates 54.240.4.11 as permitted sender) smtp.mailfrom=0102017fcd2102cd-4669ea3c-01b9-4cf8-9c00-f30f50b3fd22-000000@eu-west-1.amazonses.com
- Feedback-id: 1.eu-west-1.kMRcCzsTOZFNy9UIhDo4NXfA25e/RvtpRNkLEzmc01o=:AmazonSES
Rod
For John (and for me) it was never about “randomness”, as a product (or product modifier). It is about self-alteration.
Also for John (same but less so for me) it was about reducing self-_expression_.
What was needed, then, was a suitable method. The I Ching with its 64 possibilities came along at the right time, offering a consistent and useable process. I see this more as a practicality—with pleasurable bonuses—than as a devotion.
You are correct that the change to the computer didn’t change the process fundamentally (it did add some variations). What it did alter was the speed and scale, a lot. Which is one reason why his work beginning in 1984 is a distinct period, in my opinion.
AC
On Mar 27, 2022, at 13:04, Rod Stasick <rod@stasick.org> wrote:The big poisonous elephant mushroom in the rheum that’s often overlooked thois that Cage seemed more devoted to the I-Ching and the number 64 than to theideas of pure chance in the most basic way of procedures. Yes, he made the jumpfrom coin tossing to computer printouts (making his work faster, but taking awaythe delightful immediacy of results), but any element outside of “64” and I-Chingwas dismissed. For me tho, the change from a pseudo-random number algorithmto a maximally unpredictable (as well as flexible) way of creating randomness wasan immense game-changer in my approach to the randomization of all elements.RNow Playing:Sune Karlsson : Linonia Te (Nylon Thread, Board, Beer Can Rings & Table Spoons)
from:Investigations ILast.FM:
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results
, (continued)
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Andrew Culver, 03/22/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, David Bellows, 03/23/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Rob Haskins, 03/23/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, David Bellows, 03/23/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Mark Kolmar, 03/25/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, David Bellows, 03/25/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Andrew Culver, 03/27/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Bob Kosovsky, 03/27/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, Andrew Culver, 03/27/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Rod Stasick, 03/27/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, Andrew Culver, 03/27/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, Mark Kolmar, 03/29/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Bob Kosovsky, 03/27/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Rod Stasick, 03/27/2022
- Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results, William Brooks, 03/27/2022
-
Re: [silence] Methods Cage used to generate I Ching results,
Andrew Culver, 03/22/2022
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.