John Cage’s 4’33”

For the Pluto Project (making rocks) we mashed up John Cage’s masterwork 4 minutes and 33 seconds with the New Horizon’s 2015 flyby of Pluto. This interested me for a number of reasons. The two, being from differing domains (music & space) has a high degree of (radical) difference. Because we had committed to a convivial event we used the forms of a musical performance with a following reception. Cage piece provided both a ‘differing experience for most and it was possible to spontaneously created a performance group & audience with no rehearsals or much explanation. And it had the important absurdity, irony, and unclear meanings. The absurdity because it captures attention & provides a different perspective to our already present perception of the world. Irony because it provided for humor and enjoyment of the heady topics of both the Cage and the flyby. Open meaning was a tool to explore the possible meanings available between the two. I’ve got three readings so far, do you have one?

The entire printed pages of the score for 4’33” available from Boosey & Hawkes publisher.

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