MEMBRA DISJECTA FOR JOHN CAGE Wanting to Say Something About John 17.02. bis 06.05.2012 // täglich 10 bis 19 Uhr freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL // MuseumsQuartier Wien EINTRITT FREI VORWORT INTRODUCTION the results of those chance operations is we could have nonviolent social change recycled without pathos, as they have always quartier21 team for all of their invaluable Wir feiern Geburtstag! 2012 wird das John Cage Influenced and Influential the questions. The things which should be is because we know we have non violent art been here as a public source, and a natural, help, and especially to Elisabeth Hajek quartier21 10 Jahre alt. Wir läuten dieses criticized, if one wants to criticize, are the change. We mustn’t believe that you can anonymous and legitimate strategy. The for her great enthusiasm and perfect Jubiläumsjahr mit einer Ausstellung zum Cage has a certain charm as well … questions that are asked.”2 He adressed only change by killing because you can title “Membra Disjecta” refers to his famous co-ordination. We are grateful to all of 100. Geburtstag von John Cage ein. Roland Barthes in his autobiography questions to himself, the I-Ching, his also change by creating.”5 This assumption, method of treatment of various inspirational our funding institutions, in particular to Warum passt Cage so gut ins Museums- listeners, friends, or the social setting. based on a quasi-Christian vision of the sources, as well as to the historical, aesthetic the Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Quartier Wien? Weil seine Vision eines Do you think you could give this speech To ask wisely was simply the essential part inherent goodness of human beings, as well and media heterogeneity of the exhibited Culture and the Cultural Office of the City Gleichklangs von Kunst und Leben täglich without mentioning John Cage? of his personality, eclectic philosophy and as his deep belief in progress finally brought collection (membra disjecta or disjecta of Vienna, as well as the national and im Kulturareal zu spüren ist. Hier trifft Alvin Lucier asking Robert Ashley way of life. With a respect for tradition and him to the theory of non violence and also membra is Latin term for “scattered international cooperation partners, lenders Klangkunst auf DJ-Sounds, Street Art auf to speak about Lucier’s music at Wesleyan a sense for experimentation, he continued contributed to his profound conviction in the members”, and is used to refer to surviving and galleries for their support and trust. Egon Schiele, barocke Architektur auf University to open new horizons and spaces and was gradual ethical self-regulation of humankind fragments of ancient pottery, manuscripts Special thanks are due to Laura Kuhn, modernes Design. Für Impulse von außen instrumental in the conceptualization and and the significant role that science, and other cultural objects). The subtitle director of the John Cage Trust in New sorgen die Artists-in-Residence, die auch Few artists have had such a profound impact intermedialization of the arts. “John opened technology, media and arts play in the further “Wanting to Say Something About John” York, for her help in arranging the loan zum Ausstellungsprogramm beitragen. on the arts in recent decades as American up the door and I just opened the window cultivation of mankind. Aside from the is meant as a paraphrase of Cage’s of Not Wanting to Say Anything About Mehr soll an dieser Stelle nicht verraten musician, writer, and visual and intermedia a crack,” Morton Feldman, in whom Cage abovementioned oriental influences, the commemorative visual homage to Marcel Marcel by John Cage: We are delight ed to werden. Stille ist, so Cage, ein Zustand „frei artist John Cage (1912–1992). Moreover, found a disputing sparring partner par ethical aspects of Cage’s social philosophy Duchamp. In 1969, Cage and several other be able to show this work! Special thanks von Intention“. Wenn Sie also ganz zufällig im his concepts of open work, indeterminism, excellence, once stated.3 Legendary 4’33” were also formed by the environmental and artists were asked to contribute an idea also go to Galerie výtvarného ume ̌̌ní v freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL vor bei- transversality, plurality, and interdiscipli narity was also just a big question posed in the globalizing world views prevalent at the time: in honour of Duchamp, who had died the Ostrave ̌̌ for publishing the exhibition kommen, sollte dieses „nicht-intentionale correspond with recent discourse in right time and context (like Duchamp’s “Now in connection with the thought of previous year. Cage created a multiple catalogue. We are equally indebted to Ereignis“ ganz im Sinn von John Cage sein. the humanities, helping it overcome its ready-made forty years before it). It can Marshall McLuhan we know that we live in a consisting of two lithographs and eight the Walther König bookshop (Andreas meta physical orientation and establish be viewed as a milieu vibrating with many period of the extension of the mind outside of Plexigrams, all printed with text generated at Wigand and team) for procuring books for Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch. more liberal interpretation strategies. meanings, where the American sense for us, in the sense that the wheel was an random with the help of the Chinese oracular the TONSPUR_library with a special focus Christian Strasser Formerly trained as a visual artist and experiment meets European (compositional extension of the power that we have in our book I Ching and presentable in random on literature by and on John Cage and the Direktor MuseumsQuartier Wien musician, and later inspired by Joyce form and institutional presentation) and legs to move, so we now with our electronics order, one behind the other in a special artists participating in the show. Last, but not and Duchamp, modern dance, oriental Oriental (Zen tolerance and empathy for have extended our central nervous system wooden frame. Finally he decided to title least, our very sincere thanks go to all the philosophy, and the thoughts of Meister environmental aspects of all processes and not only around the globe but out into space. the work after the Jasper Johns’ statement artists for contributing their wonderful works FOREWORD Eckhart, Thoreau, Fuller, and McLuhan, situations) traditions. This then gives us the responsibility to see “I don’t want to say anything about Marcel.” and candid personal statements to make this It’s our birthday! In 2012, quartier21 is ten Cage managed to incorporate all of these enlightenment, not in terms of individual The participating artists include several long-planned tribute marking the centennial years old. We’re ringing in the anniversary inspirational sources in his work in surprising But Cage did not open the door merely to attainment, but in terms of social attainment, of Cage’s collaborators and friends as of one of the greatest figures in the world of year with an exhibition celebrating the contexts, creating postmodern intermedia new (or, better said, to newly discovered) so that at that point we must say that the well as younger artists who are inspired the arts happen. hundredth birthday of John Cage. and multimedia art par excellence at a time ideas; his main purpose in opening it was world as we now see it is intolerable.”6 But by his work. It consists of known works by Why does Cage fit so well with the Museums- when postmodernism was still in its infancy. to allow commonplace sounds to enter into the social-critical feature of Cage’s complex renowned artists as well as pieces specially Jozef Cseres – Georg Weckwerth Quartier Wien? Because his vision of the the hermetically closed realm of sacral tones personality only seemingly opposes the created for the project. The show is an Curators union of art and life can be felt everyday in How is it that the cocktail mixed from such through it. And though he did not succeed deliberate involvement of a pragmatic subject ambitious undertaking juxtaposing a variety the MQ culture complex. This is where sound a quantity of varied ingredients does not in depriving sounds of their semantic aspects and his ability to also accept and exploit of media, with paintings, drawings, prints, References art meets DJ sounds, street art meets Egon have a resulting consistency with a bizarre and providing a representational immunity adverse influences. One can see Cage’s collages, musical scores, texts, photographs, 1 Richard Kostelanetz: Conversing With Schiele, and Baroque architecture meets taste or odour? Well, the charm of Cage’s for them (by aleatorics and indeterminacy), lifetime effort to achieve philanthropic- instructive pieces, sculptural objects, Cage. Omnibus Press, London/New York/ modern design. The artists-in-residence bring personality as well as the essence of his he still achieved in equalizing sounds with ecological synthesis behind his ambition installations, videos, musical pieces and Sydney 1989, p.267 inspiration from the outside and contribute to mastery rest in his ability to connect tones, and in so doing in elevating them to a to depolarize dichotomy “acceptable/non- sound installations, which again corresponds 2 Ibid., p.85 the exhibition program. seeming ly un-connectable phenomena paramountly musical state. Cage always acceptable”. Many of his answers to the with the versatile persona of Cage. The entire 3 Peter Gena & Morton Feldman: H. C. E. We have lots in store for you this coming with a knack for correctly estimating their bore in mind the social dimension of Proustian questions put him by Jacqueline installation is divided into nine sections – (Here Comes Everybody). In: Gena, P., year. But this is all we’ll reveal for now. relative proportions. Furthermore, although organizing the sounds, activity to which he Bossard in a questionnaire in 1970 prove this: Silence, Happy New Ears!, Composition, Brent, J.