JOHN CAGE (1912 - 1992, AMERICAN) Not Wanting to Say Anything About Marcel, Plexigram VII.
Plexigram multiple comprising of 8 color screenprints on Plexiglas and a detachable walnut base, 1969. Each Plexiglas panel 355x510 mm; 14x20¼ inches. Artist's proof, aside from the edition of 125. Signed by the artist and Calvin Sumsion in pencil, numbered III/XVIII and inscribed "VIII" in ink, on the base. Numbered XIV/XVIII and inscribed "III A.P." in blue ink, on the printed instruction card. Composed with the assistance of graphic designer Calvin Sumsion and printed by Irwin Hollander and Fred Genis, New York. Published by EYE Editions, Cincinnati. Original black pasteboard portfolio box.
Provenance Collection of Irwin Hollander, New York. Private collection, New York.
Best known for his experimental 1952 musical composition and performance 4'33", this series of Plexigrams is Cage's first foray into the visual arts. This work was conceived during his 1969 stay as composer-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati, in response to the passing of his friend and mentor, Marcel Duchamp, just a year before. Both Cage and Jasper Johns were approached by an arts publication for a memorial statement to which Johns replied "I don't want to say anything about Marcel" leading to the title of his series.
The Benton Museum of Art describes his process as follows, "Working from the 1955 edition of The American Dictionary, he defined groups of pages from which he would derive a word or word fragment. Using three coins, which could yield eight different combinations, Cage employed the first flip of the coins to establish the vertical location of one of the sixty-four squares and subsequent flips to locate the horizontal. Once this process had isolated a group of pages, he would toss the coins again to determine the specific page, and yet again to locate an individual word." The result is a deceivingly random array of text and images, layered and built upon itself to create a meaningful and unconventional tribute from one artist to another.
