Banner image: Detail, John Cage, Eninka 29, 1986, burned, smoked, and branded gampi mounted to paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Crown Point Press, 1996, © John Cage Trust
John Cage, Fire, 1985
Fire 9 was made by simultaneously running burning newspaper and a damp sheet of paper through a printing press, thereby fixing a unique imprint of fire — an unpredictable, ephemeral, and volatile element. Heated teapots, their temperature and position governed by chance calculations, were then used to brand the paper with rings.
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John Cage burning newspapers on the press bed at Crown Point Press, 1992, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press
"Yes, No, Maybe: The Art of Making
Decisions," lecture by exhibition curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)
Julie Mehretu, artist, in conversation with curator Judith Brodie, Diamonstein-Spielvogel lecture (audio)
"An Insider's Perspective," lecture by Kathan Brown, founder of Crown Point Press (audio)
Exhibition tour by curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)