Silence: Lectures and Writings

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John Cage

Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 2011; originally published 1961, English

Nonfiction, Art and Cultural History

ISBN: 9780819560285

From the Publisher. Cage writes: “There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot. Sounds occur whether intended or not; the psychological turning in direction of those not intended seems at first to be a giving up of everything that belongs to humanity. But one must see that humanity and nature, not separate, are in this world together, that nothing was lost when everything was given away.”

On 3 book lists

Craig Hodgetts

On Craig Hodgetts’s Book List

Cage’s ability to exploit the “accidental” reveals the richness to be found in the seemingly random sounds, sights, and events that make up the environment. To designers who obsess over each detail, and in the process squeeze out every uncontrolled morsel, Cage implicitly cautions that they may be creating lifeless hulks which do little but celebrate their own solipsistic nature.

Victoria Meyers

On Victoria Meyers’s Book List

John Cage is one of my heroes, and he’s incredibly funny. When I need inspiration, when I need to laugh, I read this book.

Antoine Predock

On Antoine Predock’s Book List

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