John Cage

Born in 1912 in Los Angeles, John Cage was one of the most influential composers, artists, and thinkers of the 20th century, reshaping the boundaries between music, visual art, and performance. He challenged traditional ideas of composition by introducing elements of unpredictability, profoundly impacting avant-garde movements across disciplines.

Cage’s radical approach to music was exemplified in 4’33 » (1952), where performers remain silent for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, allowing ambient sounds to become the composition. He embraced chance operations, using methods like coin flips or the I Ching (an ancient Chinese text used for divination) to determine musical elements such as pitch and rhythm. This removed personal intention from the creative process, allowing randomness to shape the work. Similarly, his concept of indeterminacy meant that each performance of a piece could be different, depending on the choices of musicians or environmental factors.

Most of Cage’s original musical manuscripts and sketches are housed in the John Cage Music Manuscript Collection at the New York Public Library, with the remaining held by other institutions and private collectors. Notably, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York includes his work in its collection. Additionally, Northwestern University Library holds a collection that documents Cage’s entire life through primary source materials, including a handful of his musical manuscripts.

Throughout his career, Cage participated in several prominent exhibitions. In 1958, the Stable Gallery in New York showcased his scores, recognizing their unique calligraphic qualities and aesthetic appeal. In 1982, the Whitney Museum of American Art organized « John Cage: Scores and Prints, » a comprehensive review of his visual works, which also traveled to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. More recently, in 2009, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) presented « The Anarchy of Silence: John Cage and Experimental Art, » exploring his profound influence on various art forms.