Black Mountaigne College Phenomenon
The Black Mountain College Phenomenon
John
hisart
art
JohnCage
Cage and
and his
Faculty of Arts and Design, the West University of Timisoara
Timisoara, 2012
Organizers
The Black Mountain College
Phenomenon
John Cage and his art
Partners
Fundaţia Interart TRIADE
Project Team
George Apostolescu
[project manager]
Alexandra Ionescu Titu
[curator]
Gabriel Kelemen
Emanuela Macovei
Mariana Vadai
[translator]
ISBN 978-973-0-13642-5
1
John Cage
icon of interdisciplinarity
The Black Mountain College has left an extremely important mark both in literature and in music or the visual arts. Among the pioneers of this phenomenon we encounter Allan Kaprow and
John Cage. The latter has made a “revolution” in the field of music. The main novelty elements
are the prepared piano, the synthesizers, the generation of noise under different forms, nonconventional instruments, electronic music, and the work that made him famous 4’33” (1952).
This innovative work represents silence, both on the part of the player and on that of the listener,
highlighting the background noises in the concert hall, which, according to Cage, are music.
Any noise is a sound. This work has a classical tripartite structure, in which no sound is used.
The idea of the silence concept has its roots in the visual arts. Cage was strongly influenced by
a series of white paintings on canvas, apparently empty belonging to Robert Rauschenberg, that
generated different colours depending on the light and the place where they were displayed.
The sublime message of this piece is the level of silence that floods the concert hall, the power to
capture music as well as the player’s and the listener’s level of attention. That’s all the minimalism one can get! According to John Cage any sound that we hear can be music, and for this
reason everything is based on the naturalness and the plasticity of the environment.
The prepared piano is another novelty introduced by John Cage. In his first work for prepared piano, Bacchanale, Cage introduces between the chords of the classical piano bolts and
screws of different thickness and length, that placed in a certain position, at a certain distance,
form a twelve-tone system which gives the piano a timbre that is close to the percussion instruments. Apart from the sound palette that he made, Cage combines different alternative or mirror
rhythms. In the following compositions for prepared piano Cage explores more and more this
timbral system introducing different bolts, nuts, plastic, rubber, canvas, bamboo or wood in
order to create different sound effects: clicking, buzzing, scratching. The majority of his pieces
were composed as accompaniment for Merce Cunningham’s dance group, being complex from
the point of view of rhythm, the novelty element being present – the timbral diversity.
The chart system is another composition technique that Cage used. Due to his travelling to
Asia he was influenced by the cultural diversity, implementing in his composition techniques the
I Ching hexagrams. The Music of Changes (1951), dedicated to his friend, the pianist David
Tudor, is the first work totally variable in which he uses the I Ching technique (Chinese oracle).
The process of creation consists in applying the sound, the duration, the dynamic, the rhythm
and the density on charts. Even the title of the work Music of Changes derives from “I Ching –
Book of changes”.
HPSCHD (harpsichord) is the title of another innovation belonging to John Cage. This is a work
for amplified harpsichord and 51 computer-generated tapes. The computer program Fortran,
invented at the time by IBM engineers, used to work on a I Ching hexagram. This algorithm on
tape is overlapped on 208 tapes with computer-generated sounds played through 52 monaural
tapes, together with 6400 slides and 40 movies onto rectangular screens.
2
by George Apostolescu, Project manager
The work approximately 5 hours long and the audience are invited to move around the hall.
All these were possible logistically with the help provided by the NASA. The harpsichord solos
randomly contain different parts from famous works belonging to Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin,
Schumann, Gottschalk, Busoni and Schoenberg. HPSCHD was played at the premiere in front
of 6000 people.
Being a multi-faceted personality, John Cage imposed himself in the visual arts, literature and
natural science. From his childhood, Cage showed his talent in painting, but he concentrated on
music. At maturity, Cage started developing his artistic talent, especially in lithography.
In his first project – Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel – we come across two pieces
composed on the principle of lithography and a group of 8 objects called Plexigrams (silk
screen printing on plexiglas panels – the methyl polymethacrylate, a good glass replacer). From
1978 to 1992, Cage joins the Crown Point Press, where he produces a series of printings such
as Seven Day Diary in which Cage draws with his eyes closed, thus conforming to a certain
development structure.
The poems written in mesostic are another creation of John Cage. The mesostic is related to
the acrostic and the telestic type of writing and it consists in a keyword in capital letters running
through the middle of the typescript. This keyword can be a proper name, a sentence or even a
musical composition. Empty Words – is a collection of texts written between 1973-1978 which
is also transposed in a piece for voice and piano. This literary and music volume can be summarized to a series of syllables, abstract sounds or nonsense words. Cage is no longer a simple
poet or composer he is an original artist who can adapt to several creation systems. In Foreword
to X (1983), his last collection of writings, Cage said “I have more and more written my texts in
the same way I write my music.”
John Cage was extremely passionate during his entire life with mycology (branch of biology
that studies fungi) during his entire life.
Fluxus, one of the most radical artistic movements of the second half of the 20th century
originates in John Cage’s experimental music. This movement is made up of musicians, artists,
poets or actors who initiate different performances, events that lead to editing art theory books
or initiating street happening. Due to the anti-art, anti-literature, anti-music or anti-commercialism
concepts, sometimes this movement was compared to the Dada movement. This concept allows
anyone to have access to art, being the foundation of many current artistic trends. The first event
was organized by George Maciunas in 1961, at the New York Galleries and in 1962 the
first Fluxus Festival was organized in Europe. Tens of artists join a space of freedom in a funny
practice. Among them are George Maciunas, John Cage, Dick Higgins, Marcel Duchamp, Allan
Kaprow, Le Monte Young, Al Hansen or Jackson Mac Low. Music starts to become visual, the
creation of diverse artistic works emerges, the Mail Art and the video art are invented. The last
Fluxus event was organized in Chicago in February 2012. A long story with numerous knots
– Fluxus in Germany 1962-1994 is the title of the first similar exhibition organized in Romania
between 12 December 2011 and 31 January 2012, where essential works belonging to this
trend were brought.
By means of this project we want to promote not only John Cage’s musical activities but also his
artistic activities, composer, plastic artist and writer. In other words our aim is to promote John
Cage’s 20th century innovations at the level of the local and national community, to share his
vision about music, art and society, as well as to create close connections with different artists.
The organisation of such an event would highlight the benefits brought by John Cage to the 21st
century music.
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The Black Mountain College Phenomenon
John Cage and his art
by George Apostolescu, Project manager
The project The Black Mountain College Phenomenon – John Cage and his art, has as its
objective the organisation of some exceptional festive days during which different conferences,
artistic and educational activities will take place in order to celebrate 100 years from the birth
of the avantgarde composer John Cage.
The activities organised in the three days of the event are meant to promote his work and his
different innovations in music, visual arts and literature, everything culminating with a vernissage of different famous plastic artists and a gala concert with part of John Cage’s work.
During the 3 days a conference with guests representing the fields in which the artist left his
mark (music, visual art, literature) will also take place, with projections and open discussions
on different topics, vernissage and concert with works belonging to John Cage or to some of
his contemporary composers.
In this age of technology the artists look for more and more subtle and unusual ways of
reflecting the psychological, ideological and scientific changes of the world we live in. People
like John Cage have always tried to render through their art a complete image of the evolution
of mankind as well as its consequences – be they positive or negative, or even a combination
of the two.
John Cage was an intellectual – a philosopher. For him music has become one of the main
languages he used to express his opinions and to describe a facet of reality. He firstly introduces us to SILENCE – not as an antidote to music, but as a primordial necessity of the soul to
be able to LISTEN in order to find itself in it. On the other hand, John Cage presents us with
an almost infinite number of possibilities of exploiting sound and finding its new meaning that
is “in fashion” with the requirements and the needs of our generation.
This year, when we celebrate 100 years from the birth of the American composer John
Cage, I and “Banatul” Philarmonic Orchestra are honoured to take part in this event. John
Cage is little known to the Timişoara audience, so this is going to be a unique occasion to
listen to some of his most representative works, to shape our taste for contemporary music as
well as for that kind of music that John Cage anticipates.
by Ioan Coriolan Gârboni, General Manager ”Banatul” Philarmonic Orchestra Timişoara
4
Music
The ‘Banatul’ Symphony
Orchestra Timişsoara
The Timisoara Philharmonic Society was founded in 1871 and its activity imposed itself
on the city’s artistic life by the diversity of the concerts (choral, vocal-symphonic, symphonic,
chamber) and through the celebrity of its guests, whose signatures appear in the “Book of
Honour”: Johannes Brahms (as pianist), Joseph Joachim, Pablo de Sarasate, Henryk Wieniawski, David Popper, Leopold Auer, Jan Kubelik, Bela Bartok etc.
The establishment of The Banatul Symphony Orchestra in 1947 was the result of an intense
artistic activity of several musical societies and associations such as The Timişoara Philarmonic Society (1871) and The Friends of Music Association (1920).
The Banatul Symphony Orchestra was invited to participate at prestigious national and international festivals numerous times: at The George Enescu International Festival (Bucharest),
The New music International Week (Bucharest), The Romanian Music Festival (Iaşi), BEMUS
Festival (Belgrade), The SAM-90 Festival (Salon Aquitain des musiques Bordeaux – France),
The Primavera’91 Festival (Spain), The ROMA-EUROPA Festival (Italy), The Montreux-Vevey
International Music Festival (Switzerland) and The São Luis International Music Festival (Brazil). The Banatul Symphony Orchestra has also been on tours in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Taiwan and Hungary.
The Banatul Philarmonic Orchestra organizes the Timişoara Muzicală International Festival
since 1969, and the George Enescu Musical Days since 1981. The institution’s discography
includes LP and CD recordings from the Electrecord disc company as well as from disc companies in England, Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany.
Besides the concerts held in the concert-hall in Timişoara, The Banatul Philarmonic also
organizes numerous outdoor concerts, many of which are held in unconventional places:
at The Româneşti Cave, in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral Timişoara (2007), on the
shore of the Bega Channel (2008), at the Traian Vuia Airport (2008), al the Green Forest
Timişoara (2009), as well as at a construction site, at the Municipal Roads Society (2009),
at the Şag Monastery - with the occasion of the Day of Europe (2010) - and more recently,
at a military unit (2011).
In collaboration with soloists from The Vienna State Opera, The Banatul Symphony Orchestra has held an extraordinary concert in June 2009 and an anniversary concert „Ioan
Hallender and Guests” in May 2012, during the 36th season of the ‘Timişoara Muzicală’
International Festival. Among the guests at that Festival was the Moscow Philarmonic Orchestra, together with the conductors Iuri Simonov and Iuri Botnari.
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PAUL MANN
Paul Mann is a regular guest-conductor with many major orchestras throughout Europe, the US,
Australia, and the Far East. Orchestras with which he has recently worked include the Bergen
Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, St
Petersburg Philharmonic, RAI Torino, Orchestra dell'Arena di Verona, Flemish Radio, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Orchestre de Bretagne; the BBC Orchestras, City of Birmingham Symphony,
Hallé, Royal Scottish National, Britten Sinfonia; Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, among
many others. Mr. Mann has guest-conducted extensively in the USA, and is a regular guest with
the New York City Ballet, both at their Lincoln Center home, and on tour in Washington and Los
Angeles. His debut with the Queensland Orchestra in 2002 resulted in regular re-invitations
to Australia, with the Tasmanian Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, West Australian Symphony,
and Adelaide Symphony orchestras, as well as the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand,
and the Malaysian Philharmonic.
He was chief conductor of the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark until 2008, where
he achieved considerable critical acclaim, particularly in the symphonies of Elgar, Schumann,
Shostakovich, Beethoven and Mahler, and where he also made numerous recordings of a wide
range of repertoire, for such labels as Bridge, Da Capo, and EMI.
He first came to international attention as first prizewinner in the 1998 Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, as a result of which he was also appointed assistant conductor of the
London Symphony Orchestra. He made his LSO debut shortly afterwards, and subsequently
collaborated regularly with the orchestra both in the concert hall and recording studio. Special
projects with the LSO included the Duke Ellington Centenary Concert at the Barbican Hall with
Wynton Marsalis, and a famous collaboration with the legendary rock group Deep Purple in
two widely acclaimed performances of Jon Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra at the
Royal Albert Hall, the live DVD and CD of which remain international bestsellers. His most recent
recording is the first-ever studio recording of Lord's Concerto, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, in collaboration with the late composer and a star-studded cast of soloists,
released at the end of September 2012 by Edel Records.
He now lives in Cluj, with his fiancée who is a member of the Filarmonica de Stat Transilvania.
6
Music
LUCIAN METŢIANU
The valuable composer, researcher and professor Lucian Meţianu was born on 3rd June 1937,
in Cluj. He attended the Bucharest Conservatoire having as teachers some of the following musicians: Anatol Vieru, Aurel Stroe and Tiberiu Olah. He also studied at the Faculty of Electronics
within the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest. Between 1967-1971 he specialized in electronic music in Koln, Germany that he graduated with a paper intitled “Pythagoreis”. He was preoccupied
with the theory of music, with the mathematical aspect of music, being the author of works such
as “Quartets No. 4 and 5”, “Brevis Symphony” and “Dialogue for flute, piano and percussion”.
At the Conservatoire, Meţianu met those who were about to become great composers preoccupied with electronic music, Octavian Nemescu and Corneliu Cezar. They built a strong friendship, having common preoccupations in innovative composition techniques, “strange” for those
times. Cezar and Nemescu have prefigured ever since the beginning of the ‘60s, the idea of
spectralism by using the techniques of natural harmonics. Together they took music to the level
of science, being passionate about the way sound waves worked over the physical-chemical,
biological or psychological integrity.
Lucian Meţianu is a member of the Romanian Composers’ and Musicians’ Union, a SUISA
member, a member of the transdisciplinary group "Ganesha" (Université de Lausanne), "Réseau
Audition" des Universités Suisse, Comité du Société de Musique Contemporaine Lausanne, Société Suisse de Pédagogie Musical, a member of Conseil de Fondation - Institut de Ribaupierre.
He is the founder of the “Archebole” Composers’ Association.
Starting with 1984 he moved to Switzerland where he taught composition at the Ribaupierre
Institute Lausanne (1985 - 2011) and he was a teacher of electronic music at the Lausanne
Conservatoire (1990-1998) where he was the creator of an electronic lab music. In 2007 he
was awarded “The Order of Cultural Merit as an Officer” for his entire cultural activity.
During his lifetime he composed chamber music, symphonies and music for movies. Some
of his chamber music works are “Evocation” (1973), “Evolutio” (1973), “Evolutio” (1974) and
“Eulogy” (distinguished with the Romanian Composers’ and Musicians’ Union Award).
He also wrote books such as: "Une ordonnance de la structure musicale" (Revue Roumaine n_
2 1981 Bucarest), "Le geste - Espace, temps, Ènergie, densitÈ" (Revue Musicale de Suisse Romande n_ 3, 1987), "Portrait de Lucian Metianu" par Fred Popovici (Bulletin d'Informations de
l'Union des Compositeurs Roumains, Musica n_ 7, 1982), "International Who's Who in Music
and Musicians Directory" (Tenth Edition), "Who's Who in Europa" (Edition 1992), "Dictionnaire Biographique des Musiciens" (Robert Laffont 1995), "Temps, espace, Ènergie, densitÈ"
(Bulletin d'Informations de l'Union des Compositeurs Roumains, Musica n_2, 1997), "American Biographical Institute" (1999), "Grove Dictionary" (Londen 2001), "Filmlexicon FILME von
Z", "Cinematografo.it-Banca Dati del Cinema Mondiale" (Die Neue MGG-Stichwortiiste des
Sachteils).
VIOLETA DINESCU
Born in 1953, Violeta Dinescu has graduate Gheorghe Lazăr High School Bucharest in
1972 and she continued her musical studies at the Music Conservatoire (today the National
Music University, Bucharest) and then in Heidelberg. She was a teacher between 1978-1982
at George Enescu Music High School, Bucharest, then she went to Germany where she taught
at Hochschule für Kirchenmusik – Heidelberg (between 1986-1991), at Hochschule für Musik
– Frankfurt (1989-1991), at Fachakademie Hochschule für Kirchenmusik – Bayreuth (19901994). From 1996 Violeta Dinescu has been teaching composition at the University Carl-vonOssietzky from Oldenburg, giving lectures in South Africa and the USA. Starting with 1985 she
has been a member of the International League of the women composers. She has obtained
numerous distinctions such as: the Award of the Composers’ Union (1975, 1976, 1980, 1983),
whose member she has been since 1980, The Second Prize at the International GEDOK Composition Competition (1982), The First Prize at the International Composers’ Competition (Utah,
1983), The Third Prize at the International G. B. Viotti Music and Dance Competition (1983),
The Carl Maria von Weber Award for the opera Hunger und Durst (1985). Her extremely rich
creation includes music for stage, music for orchestra, chamber music, choral and vocal music,
music for piano or organ. She has composed the soundtrack of the movie Tabu, electroacoustic
music and her discography is very rich.
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SORIN PETRESCU
Born on 21.07.1959 in Timişoara, Romania.
Education:
1982 Graduate from the “Ciprian Porumbescu” University of Music Bucharest
1990-1991 Completion of Master classes held within the International Seminar of Music in
Weimar, with the Russian pianist Rudolf Kehrer.
Professional activity:
Since 1982 so far, solist of the “Banatul” Philharmonic Orchestra in Timişoara.
Since 1991 part-time Senior Lecturer at the Conservatoire of Timişoara.
Over 800 concerts and recitals in Romania and abroad: Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland,
France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Hungary, Columbia, Puerto-Rico, China, Hong-Kong, Taiwan.
Participation in international festivals:
“Summer in Varna” (Bulgaria), “Festival for Eastern Europe” in Bergen (Norway), “Ost-West”
Amsterdam (Netherlands), New Music Festival” Darmstadt (Germany), “Musicarama” HongKong, “Contemporary Music Festival”, Huddersfield (Great Britain), “Heidelbergfrühling” (Germany), New Music Festival, Stockholm, (Sweden), Enescu International Festival, Bucharest (Romania), a.o.
1994 invited by the “Brahms Foundation” (Germany) for a training stage at the Brahms House
in Baden-Baden.
Prizes:
The Prize of the Romanian Music Critics (1989) / The Prize of the Romanian Composers and
Musicologists (1990) / “Stipendienpreis” of the Festival in Darmstadt (1990) / The 2nd Prize at
the International Competition for Concert Pianists in Mazara del Vallo, Italy (1993).
CD recordings for Electrecord, Gutingi, Cavalli, Altri Suoni. Since 2010 Sorin Petrescu has a
PhD in musicology.
ANDREEA OLARIU
Andreea is playing the piano since the age of six. As a child, she has
won a number of national and international prizes, and has appeared
on radio and television.
She has moved to Canada ten years ago, where she became part of
prof. Marietta Orlov’s class at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has
continued her studies with prof. Orlov at the University of Toronto for
her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and has graduated from
McGill University, Montreal, where she received her Masters in Piano
Performance, studying with the renowned prof. Marina Mdivani.
Currently she is working as artistic secretary at the “Banatul” Symphony
Orchestra in Timisoara.
8
Music
DORU ROMAN
Was born on the 22nd March 1963 in Timişoara, and graduated from “Ion Vidu” Musical
High School, having as teacher of percussion Mrs. Viorica Siminescu. He then graduated from
the “Gh. Dima” Music Conservatory Cluj-Napoca having as music expert Grigore Pop. He
was an employee of the Romanian Opera House in Timişoara until 1990 when he became a
member of the “Banatul Philarmonic Orchestra and a soloist and concert musician beginning
with the autumn of 2007. In parallel he is a teacher of percussion at the Faculty of Music, the
West University, Timişoara.
Among his numerous activities we mention his involvement as a member of the Europa Symphony International Orchestra – Vienna, the Metropolitan Orchestra – Bucharest, the Percussion
Ensemble – Cluj-Napoca, The “Rhythmic” Percussion Ensemble – Timişoara and the Old Dixieland Jazz Band. He is also a coordinator of the “Percutissimo” Ensemble of the Faculty of Music
Timişoara as well as a member of the “Contraste” trio.
Over the years, Doru Roman has obtained five First Awards at the National Percussion Competitions, The Award of the Romanian Critics (1985), The Special Award at the Jazz Festival – Sibiu
(1986) and the Pro Cultura Timisiensis Award and the UCMR Award (2008).
He performed in many concerts as a soloist, being accompanied by the majority of the orchestras in the country and four concerts in which he was accompanied by the National Orchestra of
Taiwan. He also participated at numerous International Festivals such as: Contemporary Music
Festival – Darmstadt (Germany 1991, 1992, 1996, 2004) S.I.M.C. Festival – Lausanne (Switzerland), Contemporary Music Festival - Huddersfield (England), Musicarama Festival - Hong –
Kong, Agde Musica and The International Festival of University Music -Belfort (France), Tage der
neue Musik – Bamberg, Zeit fur Neue Musik – Bayreuth, Oldenburger Kammermusik Festival,
Geselleschaft fur Neue Musik – Mannheim, Komponistinnen und Ihr Werk – Kasel (Germany),
Stockholm New Music Festival, The International Festival Ernen (Switzerland), The Romanian
Culture Festival – Craiova, George Enescu International Festival – Heidelberg and Mannheim
and others. He give recitals in countries such as Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria,
Austria, Hungary, France, Spain, China, Columbia, Denmark and Taiwan.
Doru Roman has recorded many DVDs, 6 concerts where he is a soloist and 25 are recordings from different concerts and recitals with the ensembles he is a member of, as well as radio
recordings.
GEORGE
APOSTOLESCU
George Apostolescu has started studying the violin at the age of seven at
“Sigismund Toduţă” Music and Plastic Arts Highs School Deva, furthering
his studies at “Gh.Dima” Music Academy from Cluj-Napoca with Professor Dorina Mangra, and his Master of Arts at the Faculty of Music from
Timişoara with Professor Ioan Fernbach. In 2001 he got a scholarship at
“Antonio Buzzolla” Convervatorio, Adria, Italy, studying with Alessandro Simoncini. At present he is a doing a PhD at the University of West, Timişoara.
He took master classes both in the country and abroad with Mihai
Craioveanu, Şerban Lupu, Adelina Oprean, Renata Spotti, Ursula Bagdasarjanz and many others, and orchestra training programs in England
(2001-2004), 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, Spain (2005), Austria (2006),
Germany (2009), Malta (2012); between the 4th – 30 th august 2006 taking part at the ”Festival Junger Künstler Bayreuth”, Germany. He performed
in different concerts in the country such as: Recital within the “Sigismund
Toduţă” Centennial (2008), Chamber Music Recital within the “Timişoara
Chamber Music Days” (2010), as well as abroad: Genova, Italy (2002),
Fivizzano, Italy (2003), Adria, Italy (2011) and many others. In 2007 he
played as a soloist with the Bisyoc Youth Orchestra in Shropshire, Great Britain, and in 2011 in different cities across Italy he performed in A. Vivaldi
concerts. He collaborated as a violin player with different orchestras in
Romania (Cluj-Napoca, Satu-Mare, Arad, Sibiu, Oradea,) taking different
tours in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg. At present he is a violin teacher at „Ion Vidu” National
Art College in Timişoara as well as a collaborator of “Banatul” Philarmonic
Orchestra from Timişoara.
9
Exhibition „Silence”
Triade Gallery, Timişoara ( October 24 - 27, 2012) / UnArte Gallery, Bucharest
Coming from a world of the undone doing, the unthought of thought, the unpronounced
word, the unseen sight, the unfelt feeling, the uncome idea, John Cage has found his welldeserved place in a certain century, overturning and shaking concepts and certitudes, being
present in the life of the ideas that succeeded him, permanently haunted by his eternal genius,
never finding the SILENCE and wordly peace.
Vital flux, necessary presence, meditation and concept – this is the definition and essence of
this character, this is what remains as a sign in the common history and evolution that changed
the meaning of looking, listening and understanding, and finally, of communication itself.
After one hundred years in time and maybe a similar distance in space, John Cage gives us
the pleasure of letting himself discovered by those who have not met him before and remembered by those who find peace in remembering him. For the reason we feel honoured by the
artist’s noble companionship, now, with the occasion of his centenary.
Vică Tilă Adorian
10
Art
Dedicated to John Cage – the experimental composer who has radically redefined the musical avantgardism with his spectacular interdisciplinary extensions, the “Silence” project brings together artists who do
not appropriate or continue directly his experimental program, but who (aware of the historical distance and
of the imprint of postmodernism on today’s art context) regard it as a patrimonial landmark.
The play on the musical formative systems has brought the sound of concrete realities to the artistic experiments of the 50ies and the 60ies. The concrete reality was seen as the manifestation of the haphazard from
which the traditional music – as an expression of harmony – is extracting an aesthetical, controlled discourse.
In this texture of accidents, of the various sounds of the urban, industrial life, John Cage discovered a certain
musicality, the meanings of which are outside its compositional structure, and are deconstructing the project of
aesthetical autonomy: chance sounds, discrete or acute, merged with classic pieces, original, unconventional
pieces for unconventional instruments, and unusual sounds. We (re)encounter here a of ready-made citation
strategy, a poetry/epic of the narration of insignificancies, a philosophy of indetermination, and, filtered
conceptually and playfully, the grounds of the abstract expressionisms. Silence – this transparent sound object
in the on-going happening of the universal and daily cacophony - is the matter of the famous composition
4 minutes, 33 seconds. The work recalls the profound, metaphysical meaning sought for by Malevici in his
White square, related to the white triptych of Rauchenberg – relevant for Cage’s project.
The semantic potential of the word silence in the conceptual games of John Cage, partially synonymous to
terms such as quietness or absence, and emblematical for an intersection of conceptual charges which branch
out towards an abstract spirituality and a density of concrete experiences, is now reconnected by contemporary artists to the pressing urgencies of the newest experimental innovations, the historical references and the
social contexts. The political message (brought to the exhibition by the record of Serbana Dragoescu’s work
from 1975, The vow of silence) or the dramatic narration in the sculpture of Aurel Vlad (from a series dedicated to the semantics and rhetoric of the gesture) and in the self-referential, laconically expressionist portraits
of Suzana Fantanariu, speak of a referential field of a silence which is opposed to quietness, an imposed
silence, a screaming, protesting silence. The installation of Darie Dup places the problematics of both musical
messages and watchfulness within the realms of the receivers, of reception. This group of artists (including
Petru Lucaci with his digital collages that speak of Cage’s technique of contextualizing quotations) places the
rhetoric of figurations in a wider context of mostly digital experiments, which renders the relationship with the
Cage patrimony rather referential or/and polemical. A different, abstract, programmatically experimental
project is proposed by Marius Jurca, who works on the synthesizing of a code for the graphical transposition
of a subjective discourse by the means of a mathematical matrix. The video of Sorin Vreme is focused on
the tension-point of the switch between the cosmic (spatial and sonorous) infinity and the precarious infinity
of urban experiences. Ciprian Ciuclea answers to the appeal for haphazard and monotony with his videoinstallation, “Noise Protection”, in which he visually translates the reactions to jamming noises. The minimalist
video of Tibor Fekete, “Surface Tension”, opposes the visually claustrophobic image with the acoustically
promised, infinite, dynamical freedom.
John Cage’s interest for the space/sonorous discourse dynamics has been equally determined by the
active and subjective potential of the abstract expressionism, and by the duchampian anti-poetics of the
ready-made. The cumulatively mnesic objects made by Gabriel Kelemen or Gheorghe Zarnescu refer, polemically, to the trajectory of de-contextualized objects – the artists being well aware of the interest Cage took
in the esoteric movements of the period. Abstract expressionism and gestualism have, while creating their
non-theatrical counterpart in performances, also generated a direction concerned solely with the harmonic
relations of the visual chromatics. The works exhibited by the artists who practice the neo-modern abstract
expressionism, range from the pure freedom, cleansed of any excess meaning, of Corneliu Vasilescu, to the
refined chromatic themes in the transparent/opaque layered whites of Dana Constantin, the black “poem”
of Dany Zarnescu, the rather interpretative gestualism of Liviu Nedelcu, and the color massed agitated by an
inner dynamics in the painting of Carmen Bayer. The conceptualist discourse is encountered in the laconically poetical graphic work of Geta Bratescu – dedicated to 4’33’’; in the delicate drawings of Marilena
Preda Sanc – from the “Flying Souls” series; in the abstract compositions of Vica Tila Adorian, dedicated to
the numeric principles of the spatial expression of the melodic, temporal flux; in the painterly graphic works
of Adriana Lucaciu - complexely abstract, with vague remnants of figurations, and in the project/model for a
monument proposed by Dumitru Serban.
The cultural heritage of John Cage, to which we owe the existence of performance, of the interdisciplinary
extensions, and of the break with the traditional aesthetical codes, is important, beyond all its openings
towards undetermined play, towards space and narration, mostly due to the compositional innovations, in
which we can trace the origins of the main trajectories in post-modernism and in the artistic actuality.
Alexandra Titu
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VICĂ TILĂ ADORIAN
MARIUS BURHAN
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Four minutes, thirty-three seconds / drawing / 50 x 65 cm / 2012
Silent / mix media / 25 x 35 cm / 2012
Art
GETA BRĂTESCU
The artwork is in the Ivan Gallery
DANA CONSTANTIN
Dream. Blue revelation of the invisible (after the column of Pasat) / 110 x 200 cm / 2011
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CIPRIAN CIUCLEA
MARIUS JURCA
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Noise Protection / video / 1'45'' / 2012
Matrix_2011 / interactive installation / 2011
Art
GHEORGHE ŞFAIŢER
The Darned Bulb / HD video, two parts / 6' each / 2011
DARIE DUP
Ears / stone, wood and drawing / 50 x 40 x 35 cm / 2008
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Cosmic Silence / installation / variable size / 2011
ŞERBANA DRĂGOESCU
Vow of Silence / photo from a missing work / 1975
photo by Eugen Lupu
MIRELA DĂUCEANU
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Art
SUZANA FÂNTÂNARIU
Black Mouth 1 / drawing and acrylic on paper / 60 x 40 cm / 2008
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LIVIA MATEIAŞ
FCM / mix media with LCD monitor / ø 90 cm / 2012
SORIN VREME
Starry Sky / single channel video / 1'30'' / 2009
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Art
TIBERIU FEKETE
MAGDALENA ZĂRNESCU
Surface Tension / video / 4'28'' / 2012
Silence / mix media / 75 x 65 cm / 2008
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GABRIEL KELEMEN
Scriabin upper piano mystic chord 33 / painted wooden skates dystopian intrusions
plastic-type sound technological elements functional / 120 x 50 x 120 cm / 2012
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Art
GHEORGHE ZĂRNESCU
Tool / object / 35 x 38 cm / 2012
ADRIANA LUCACIU
Embodiment XV / drawing / 280 x 90 cm / 2012
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CARMEN BAYER
CAMIL MIHĂESCU
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White sound / acrylic on canvas / 50 x 60 cm / 2012
Sound Vision 2 / mix media / 100 x 70 cm/ 2012
Art
PETRU LUCACI
Clarobscur 6 / digital print on canvas / 70 x 100 cm / 2007
MARILENA PREDA SÂNC
Flying Souls / pencil drawing, chalk on paper / 51 x 66 cm / 1997
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LIVIU NEDELCU
4 minutes and 33 seconds / mix media on paper / 35 x 38 cm / 2012
CORNELIU VASILESCU
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The painting / oil on canvas / 60 x 60 cm / 2009
Art
AUREL VLAD
Man on the edge of the world / zinc plate / 66 x 20 x 20 cm / 2010
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John Cage, the prophet of post-modernity
Dan Dediu, Composer and PhD Professor at National University of Music, Bucharest
Cage was the first who defined music as “everything that sounds”, including both sound and noise that he considers
to be equal. For him the boundaries of the sound phenomenon are not set by the classical musical instruments, but
they are manifest in everyday life under the form of noises and sound we are already used to. In this way, the work of
art also includes in music what the plastic artists call readymade. Many of his works can be narrated and they make
people smile or even burst into laughter. The story according to which the pianist who is sitting for 4’33’’ is real, the
same happens with the piece for organ that lasts 600 years, a sound a year, being played on one particular date
and at one particular hour. As compared to the common musical sense that the classical – romantic tradition has accustomed us to, these are, at the most, gags, or the innocent jokes of an eccentric. As compared to a life philosophy
according to which at the basis of experience lies the feeling of the pulse of time, the different types of perception and
the relativity of any cultural forms that appeared in the history of mankind, Cage’s ideas are more consistent and go
deeper. Since, apart from the fact that the part of the pianist is not played, that he contradicts himself, he contradicts
his own being, is this tense silence we are obliged to listen during this piece empty of sounds not a way of getting
in touch with our deepest inner self drawing our attention to the humming of the Universe? At the same time, if we
analyze the sound phenomenon from a different perspective, from the point of view of the seas or the stones, does a
600 years piece of music not last only a second?
An imaginary journey in John Cage’s universe
Ionică Pop, Lecturer at “Gh.Dima” Music Academy, Cluj-Napoca
« Le silence est une idée, / L’idée fixe de la musique, / La musique n’est pas un idée: / Elle est mouvement, / Sons
qui marchent dans le silence » (Octavio Paz, à propos de John Cage, see Jean-Noël von der Weid, La Musique du
XXe siècle, Hachette Littératures, Paris 2005, p. 28, note 1.)
We start our journey from the question whether silence is the fixed idea of music, and, even if music is not an idea,
it can express ideas and communicate through them, as the work of Aurel Stroe proves in excess. At the same time,
we are interested in what we have got to learn from Cage, if not necessarily from his music, at least from the ideas
behind it. Is it possible that having culture as a starting point one writes this kind of atypical music?After a brief presentation of some of the composer’s works, we are going to see whether the verdict given by Karlheinz Stockhausen is
appropriate or only a misunderstanding of what Cage planned and succeeded in doing: “Cage, pendant toute sa vie
a raté sa vie de musicien. Parce qu’il est incapable d’écouter correctement comme d’écrire une musique réellement
structurée. C’est pas un véritable musicien: son Oreille est très faible, il n’a aucun vrai contact avec les interprètes et
aucune influence directe sur la vie musicale.” (ibid. pp. 92-93)
The American Experiment and the Writings of John Cage: between
the Silence of Sounds and the Peaceful Metaphor of the Word
PhD. Rita Tasi
There is no empty space, no empty time. There is always something to be seen, something to be heard. Sounds are
heard, no matter if we want that or not. A message, an experiment, a value. All these through the agency of John
Cage, one of the initiators of the Black Mountain College phenomenon, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
Empty words (1973-1978), a collection of his texts, in which the letters, read vertically, suggest a word, a name,
even an expression; a volume of literary and musical composition, some series of abstract sounds, apparently provided with no meaning, comes up to emphasize the features mentioned above. A concept of anti-art, anti-literature,
anti-poetry, something similar to the Dada movement. Minimalism in literature. Both a composer and a philosopher
through his ideas, John Cage shows that in his poetry silence turns into a word and the word itself transforms into
silence revealing his personal experience.
Lecture on Nothing, Lecture on Something (1949) is relevant through its main idea introduced from the very beginning by the writer himself: “I am here and I have nothing to say.” In this context the conversation is replaced with
the idea of communication, with the free game of ideas, to release us from definition and control, in the real sense
of the word.
From all these viewpoints, as Susan Sontag stated in one of her works in 1969, Cage’s silence, emptiness or simplicity are seen differently from the perspective of one’s sight, listening or hearing expressing a surprising, intriguing,
infamous and influential challenge. A confusing communication of ideas, a new approach of a different cultural and
literary context.
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Symposium
John Cage – the paradoxical anti-musician of the 20th century
Pavel Puşcaş, PhD Professor at “Gh.Dima” Music Academy, Cluj-Napoca
That John Cage is a paradox in himself is already a comfortable truism. This does not mean that his anti-music is
easier to understand and to accept. After a century from his birth and two decades from his death, he continues to
be a major question mark addressing the meaning of music, its role and its adjacent purposes.
He was a paradoxical musician because it is easier to talk about his negations than about the discourse and the
musical structures he suggests. They are rather in the category of anti-music, because they deny, they deconstruct or
shake the majority of the confortable academic conformisms that usually promote musical art. And that we consequently and maybe unconsciously perceive as Musical Art. Uncomfortable to giving a shock, original to the limit of
the irrational, conceptual to non-notional asceticism, his alterity is present in every suggestion he makes.
The easiest solution would be to ignore and move forward with our centuries old cultural conventions. Unfortunately
this is no longer possilbe. The precedent has been set. Even if Cage is not, or will not be among the great artist-composers of the 20th century, he is still the most prominent, solitary and significant thinker of the musical phenomenon.
And this is something that imposes critical rigor and lucidity.
ReJoyce in art. Cage’s odyssey: from word to sound
Mariana Vadai, Teacher of English at “Ion Vidu” National College of Art, Timişoara
James Joyce is the English modern author of the most radical experiment in prose inspiring John Cage to do the
same in music. If James Joyce in his personal quest to forge a language beyond the reach of tradition, linguistics,
history and ideologies experimented with language in order to challenge our ways of reading, John Cage, the avantgarde musician, challenged the way we listen, being constantly preoccupied with capturing all the sounds in order
to let us ‘hear the music [he hasn’t] yet heard’ and ‘let sounds be themselves’. In these circumstances not even his
silence could ever be silent.
Both Joyce and Cage were equally aware of the potential language had as a source of sounds carrying musical
expression and innumerable possibilities of interpretation, and thus made use of words and sounds in unexpected
and baffling ways. In doing so they rejoiced in their art suggesting a new approach to reality, a complex, panoramic
view of both life and art. Their experiments with language and sound, though challenging for the mind at times,
represent a way of living their art that went beyond traditional forms of using language.
In his odyssey from word to sound Cage convinced us that ‘Communication without language’ is possible. He
strived to escape the barriers or cages of tradition imposed by language or classical musical instruments in an attempt
to “get out of whatever cage [he found himself] in” and thus showing us the way to rejoicing in art, as he saw it.
In a game Cage
Emanuela Macovei, Teacher of Romanian at „Ion Vidu” National College of Art, Timişoara
In a world where everything can be questioned, the game is an undeniable spiritual constant of mankind, that
implies taking a role that playfully liberates us from the constraints and the daily routine, to self oblivion.
The real-fictional space of the game “caught” the player in a magical circle, but, paradoxically, it creates the sense
of complete freedom. Entering the game means accepting ab initio some rules that are pre-established and that
exclude the accidental. Success only depends on the player’s capacity to play or let oneself be played with. John
Cage is one of the complex artistic personalities of the 20th century, who found the equilibrium between ludus and
paidia, letting himself be caught, playfully, in an aesthetic attitude towards life, that is equally present both in his
music, visual arts and poetry.
The beginnings are under the sign of paidia, of agon, the artist being in competition with himself in order to find
„more new sounds”. The exuberance and agitation of this period call for some rulesets that will organize the future
games. Getting in touch with Indian culture and philosophy brings the peace that a participant in a game of initiation
should prove in order to get in touch with tradition. The dual nature of the artist, constantly oscillating between the
apollonian and the dionysian leads to a permanent change of the rules of the game: indecision, happening, Fluxus.
Including of the artist in the world of games, accepting the role of the game implies a creative capacity that cannot
be limited by rules, and which becomes manifest in producing by means of word/sound/image of a tension that
captives the reader/listener/viewer into a game similar to creating and deciphering mysteries. An endless game of
an endless reception in which the reader and the creator continuously change roles.
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Cage and Fluxus
Adrian Guţă, PhD, associate professor, Dean of the Faculty of Art History and Theory of the National University of Arts, Bucharest
This is a generous and tempting issue, a complex one, so, in the context of an anniversary symposium dedicated to
the John Cage centenary, I only intend to present a few considerations which could add, I hope, to the image of a
cross-cultural personality whose influence in the first decades after World War 2 was overwhelming.
Cage’s ideas and work had an important impact on the future members of the Fluxus network of artists, since at least
the second half of the 1950s, when some of them attended Cage’s classes at the New School for Social Research
in New York. If we take into consideration a “line” of connections among Duchamp, Cage and Fluxus, we could
reconstruct essential contributions to the genesis of conceptual art. Also, when we study the efforts of filling the gap
between art and life, or the history of performance art, we can’t avoid references to the creative marks above mentioned. Chance, indeterminacy, interest in Zen Buddhism, process, breaking down the barriers between media and
disciplines, were notions and strategies used by both Cage and Fluxus members. The term “intermedia” is another key
concept in the context. The Fluxus phenomenon largely contributed to the global dissemination of John Cage’s ideas.
6 Melodies for Violin and Piano (or Keyboard)
George Apostolescu, Violin teacher at “Ion Vidu” National College of Art, Timişoara
The 6 Melodies for Violin and Piano, or Keyboard, are actually a continuation of Cage’s compositional technique
that he used in the String Quartet in 4 parts, in a completely special manner. Although his compositional possibilities
in this manner were extremely numerous, Cage chose these 2 works: String Quartet and 6 Melodies for violin and
piano.
Just like in the string quartet, Cage introduces an empty rhythmic structure and the harmonic gamut technique. This
combination of melody and rhythm is specific to the compositional period between 1949 and 1950, meaning an
opening towards new compositional horizons.
Cage adopted a variational form, built on an extremely simple musical motif both technically as well as rhythmically and melodically. For violin, the composer established the string that the player was supposed to use for almost
every note, in order to make the work unique, in the preface introducing the indications as well as the interpretation
elements – no vibrato, a sound that is as simple as possible, minimum weight in the bow. The harmonic gamuts are
extremely important in this work, being noted by the composer with the greatest accuracy. The specific colour of
this work is underlined by the piano or the keyboard. Cage introduces the variant with keyboard in order to give a
different form to his work. Unlike the piano, the keyboard has the advantage to change the colour of sound and the
dynamics, all these changes leading to a different musical and interpretive hue.
Transdisciplinarity in postmodern art
PhD. Ahmed Mihaela Meral, Teacher of Philosophy at ”Ion Vidu” National College of Art Timişoara
Postmodernity opens a transdisciplinary space in art. Abandoning traditional logic principles, especially the principle
of the excluded third, the postomoderns replace the narrow world of or-or with the polyvalent universe of and-and.
Transdisciplinarity is often interpreted as interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity. Postmodern culture uses all these approaches because it is primarily a culture of integration. The postmodern culture has always been accused of relativism, chaotic thinking concentrated in the formula “anything goes”. But relativism is far too radical of an accusation for
a direction of thinking that just went from the modernist fatigue translated into the desire of avant-garde for perpetual
novelty at any cost. We must not forget that postmodernity did not want in the first phase more than a return to local
traditions and at the same time a waiver to the vehemence with which modernity requires us to systemic thinking,
that Lyotard has denounced by metanarrative criticism. These goals, however we get to radicalize them, doesn’t get
to throw us in some kind of relativistic dark
In this context it should be mentioned that the difference between relativity and relativism should be taken into account when we want to form a perspective on postmodernity.
Thanks to:
Ioan Coriolan Gârboni, General Manager ”Banatul” Philarmonic Orchestra, Timişoara
Vică Tilă Adorian, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Design, The West University of Timişoara
Sorina Jecza, Triade Gallery, Timişoara
Andreea Olariu, artistic consultant ”Banatul” Philarmonic Orchestra, Timişoara
Teodora Borghoff, Director, ”Timişoara the European Capital of Culture” Association
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ISBN 978-973-0-13642-5