River Rocks and Smoke #8 4/10/90 John Cage
"To make the smoke prints, we rolled up newspaper and built a fire right on the press, Then we placed dampened paper over the fire, which of course put out the fire and produced smoke. Then we rolled the paper through the press, leaving the imprint of the smoke on the paper."
2 comments
I am floored by print! Burned up in its charcoal butterflies...Thanks for showing. (Thanks, I found your comments on my poem--I'll post there).
Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl. Your way with words leaves me breathless.
I'd love to own one of these prints. They're not that expensive either - about $4000. Cage was the idol of my youth. I met him once - a sweeter man you couldn't imagine. He came over to London in 1982 for a weekend of concerts of his music celebrating his 70th birthday. On the Saturday evening about 5 of his pieces were performed simultaneously by an extremely under-rehearsed and disrespectful orchestra. Cage was seated prominently in the front row of the audience. Within 5 minutes of the music starting he was fast asleep and slept soundly until the end when he was woken by the applause. On the Sunday afternoon he gave a reading from his diary "How to improve the world (you'll only make matters worse)". At one point in the text there was a list of measures he had recently taken to improve his health. After reading the list he looked up at the enrapt audience, smiled broadly as only he could do, and said, "This means that when I die I will be the healthiest I have ever been in my life!"
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