John Cage

The first time I heard about John Cage was it my music appreciation class last year. My professor played his song entitled "4'33" for the class and we all sat in silence for at least the first two minutes. As far as the influencing the progression of art and shaping it's non-definition, Cage. like Marcel Duchamp had an enormous affect. His approach to art was more about improvisation and chance. Similar to Duchamp and made apparent in his work, Cage did not believe that the artists always had to be the one creating the narrative for a piece of work. He believed that it was more up to the audience and observers to form their own interpretations and thus create meaning for it. Cage believed in the randomness of art which causes it's definition to be so broad. As far as his actual artwork goes, early on Cage focused on painting and making prints. He used somewhat random and odd materials in these works. Similar to the idea of readymades, this use of unconventional, everyday materials like cotton and rocks, further promoted the idea that anything can be art or used to make art. Because of this, the meaning constructed by the observers becomes more personal and also more differentiated because of the numerous ways these items affect their everyday lives.