Showing posts with label John Cage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Cage. Show all posts
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Structure or Cage?
Since I retired last May, I have played with a form of poetry Mesostics introduced to me in the work of John Cage. My poetic efforts have been using the term Structure on most days. Several Mesostics arising on many days. Why the obsession with Structure? Many recently retired people I spoke with before I retired told me this was the most difficult part of retirement for them. How to structure their day. A part of me was not overly concerned as I have certain practices, pursuits, and activities in place not dependent on my professional life. Actually they inform and guide my life; the profession was to pay the bills. Still in leading up to retirement I thought about how I would structure my days when the confines of business life were no more. Now I have experimented and continue to develop and explore this structure of refining my life.
Isn't structure a type of cage? Delineated boundaries; keeping one focused within a certain area for whatever the reasons - music, life, art, business, and on and on. What's happening at the edge of the cage? What happens within the limited view I have from within the cage? What happens to the caged?
My habits form a cage. My thinking. My knowledge and perhaps more importantly my lack of knowledge. How will I approach understanding my cage? That of another? Why does the notion of being caged put me off balance?
Time for a walk.
Photo by Paul's Lab.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A Cageian View
I've been reading, Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage
, by Kenneth Silverman. What a man, constantly striving to allow what is, through his music, writing, and being. I met John Cage twice; he was truly a gentle man, making himself available to someone like me, once only because I asked.
He worked extensively with creating mesostics, a form of poetry, usually drawing from the works of others. Over the years I have played with this idea, sometimes using Cage's writing, sometimes others. Recently, I've been playing with mesostics and the twitter stream. Today I used John Cage to "write through" the blog this month. This was what I found. I took one line or word from post beginning with What Get's Caught in the Web? and then moved to the next post for the next line.
Just
inviting freedOm
wHen i returned
this did not happeN
get praCticing
still primArily
beGinning
do not cEnsor
, by Kenneth Silverman. What a man, constantly striving to allow what is, through his music, writing, and being. I met John Cage twice; he was truly a gentle man, making himself available to someone like me, once only because I asked.He worked extensively with creating mesostics, a form of poetry, usually drawing from the works of others. Over the years I have played with this idea, sometimes using Cage's writing, sometimes others. Recently, I've been playing with mesostics and the twitter stream. Today I used John Cage to "write through" the blog this month. This was what I found. I took one line or word from post beginning with What Get's Caught in the Web? and then moved to the next post for the next line.
Just
inviting freedOm
wHen i returned
this did not happeN
get praCticing
still primArily
beGinning
do not cEnsor
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Accepting What Comes
I've been reading Begin Again, a biography of John Cage by Kenneth Silverman. While I've known of his influence, had a good friend who worked with him, and even spent an afternoon with John Cage once, I am still astounded at the people that he worked with. One of those people that I love is Morton Feldman. Cage met Feldman as a young man, and when looking over one of Feldman's scores asked Morton how did he make this. Morton reply was that he did not know and Cage loved that is was "so beautiful and he doesn't know how he made it." Later when Cage gave his "Lecture on Something" he eulogized Morton Feldman in these words:
He has changed
the responsibility of the composer from making to accepting
When I read these words a few evenings ago, there was a resonance in me. Generally with the music that has come to me, I have no system. Like Cage and Feldman I have been open to experimenting with music, these days as a solo guitarist, but previously with two racks full of effects, synthesizers, and delays. Always probing, seeing what happens and listening. A gift that has been given to me is to hear when Music is whispering and to take note.
Tonight when I returned to my guitar I allowed myself to improvise. A simple phrase came out, followed by another one. I played this again and more notes followed. After a few minutes I let go and played through some pieces that have been neglected of late. Then the simple phrase returned and I began exploring the possibilities this offered. Knowing that whether or not a piece materializes that the practice of composing would be nurtured and this alone was sufficient. Thinking of Morton Feldman, I accepted what was coming out. Now to let go of writing and return to this investigation. Are you making or accepting?
, a biography of John Cage by Kenneth Silverman. While I've known of his influence, had a good friend who worked with him, and even spent an afternoon with John Cage once, I am still astounded at the people that he worked with. One of those people that I love is Morton Feldman. Cage met Feldman as a young man, and when looking over one of Feldman's scores asked Morton how did he make this. Morton reply was that he did not know and Cage loved that is was "so beautiful and he doesn't know how he made it." Later when Cage gave his "Lecture on Something" he eulogized Morton Feldman in these words:He has changed
the responsibility of the composer from making to accepting
When I read these words a few evenings ago, there was a resonance in me. Generally with the music that has come to me, I have no system. Like Cage and Feldman I have been open to experimenting with music, these days as a solo guitarist, but previously with two racks full of effects, synthesizers, and delays. Always probing, seeing what happens and listening. A gift that has been given to me is to hear when Music is whispering and to take note.
Tonight when I returned to my guitar I allowed myself to improvise. A simple phrase came out, followed by another one. I played this again and more notes followed. After a few minutes I let go and played through some pieces that have been neglected of late. Then the simple phrase returned and I began exploring the possibilities this offered. Knowing that whether or not a piece materializes that the practice of composing would be nurtured and this alone was sufficient. Thinking of Morton Feldman, I accepted what was coming out. Now to let go of writing and return to this investigation. Are you making or accepting?
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