BRATTLEBORO — In connection with two current exhibits exploring the use of chance operations in art, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents a rare documentary film on composer John Cage, a pioneer of the practice.
“I Have Nothing To Say And I Am Saying It” (1990, 56 mins.) will be screened at BMAC on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m.
Cage was perhaps the most controversial composer of the 20th century, but his influence extends far beyond music: His ideas challenge the way we perceive experience, reshaping modern aesthetic thought.
The film provides a fascinating look at the man and his work. Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, Merce Cunningham, and Robert Rauschenberg all offer observations on Cage's contributions to the postwar American avant-garde.
For Cage, all sound, even silence itself, could be used as a source of music. His famous silent piano work, 4'33", is played in full on the film; viewers are invited to turn down the volume during its performance. Interviews with Cage explore the genesis of such ideas as the “prepared piano” and the use of chance operations in his compositions.
Excerpts from pieces for prepared piano, percussion instruments, conch shells, five radios and a reader, and dance collaborations with choreographer Merce Cunningham are all included. What emerges is an understanding of Cage's genuine musical intention “to wake up to the very life we are living ... and let it act of its own accord."
The BMAC exhibits “Jerry's Map” and “Your Space: Chance,” both of which explore the use of chance operations in visual art, are on view through March 8.