This was around 1970-71 as I recall--John Cage & the Merce
Cunningham dancers were at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. for several
days--they had set up at the basketball court and were there most of the
day--with as I recall large backdrops on wheels by Rauschenberg--screens
that could be placed in various places--Cage was courtisde, with a raft of
equipment--wires coiling all around him and spinning off in various
directions--anyone in the audience--which varied in size to a handful of
the curious to larger groups of the interested,amused/scholarly--could
contribute to the ongoing activities by joining Cage in throwing the I
Ching or monkeying around with the machines, producing various sounds,
etc--(he'd give minimal instructions on which things did what)--
i went with a friend (we were in our late teens)--and as there
weren't many others in attendance, we got to spend some time with Cage and
contributing to the event--Cage we found to be reminscent of an excited
scientist presenting new experiments and techniques, discoveries--very
excited, fervent and filled with energy--open to any suggestion to try
out--delighted to have some teenagers interested in his works (we'd both
read some of his books)--(my friend a would-be Jimmy Page)--we spent
several hours with Cage--basically an informal give and take, all the
while in the midst of continual activity--the basketball court, with his
myriad echoes, was an interesting place to explore ideas acoustically and
Cage, over a period of days, had gotten quite interested in it--
I liked him a lot as he was open to possibility, indeterminancy
(and I agree with Reed that this is a preferable term to
"aleatoric"--)--we talked a bit about the indeterminancy principle--but
not
at any great length as more interested in what was going on, being done--I
liked that quality of being in the immediate that Cage had--being
attentive and with care to the ongoing process, flux--he was very very
alert, very aware of everything going on--very involved with it--
that was the main impression I came away with: that anything may
be used as material, that awareness and attention and openness to the
ongoing are integral to being and making--
Cage's getting others involved in the process also reminded me of
the jazz musician Don Cherry's approach to making of spectators
participants, on anything available to hand to make a sound with--
this was a long time ago, so i may be off with the exact days, but
the impact Cage made is very vivid and ongoing--
--davebc
