Cage, John (1912–92). Draftsman and printmaker
Also, and principally, a composer. Although Cage’s central contributions lay within musical culture, he deeply influenced the visual arts through his philosophy, personal example, and interactions with artists. He also made drawings and prints of considerable refinement and visual appeal. By rejecting hierarchies of value, he opened the way for artists to abolish distinctions between art and non-art subjects, materials, and processes. In his music, silence and background noise came to serve just as well as conventional musical sounds. He also favored chance and indeterminacy, abhorred notions of great art and fame, rejected personal taste and expression in art, held that elements of the material universe deserve consideration for their own sake, and found interest in the operations of the mind. Aspects of ... ...
Access to the complete content on Oxford Reference requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.
