"We all dance in John Cage shoes", Ray Johnson, who is considered the founder of Mail Art and initiator of the legendary New York Correspondence School, supposedly said in 1975. After his death in 1995 a pair of shoes with "John Cage" written on them were found in his apartment. They belong to his most personal artworks. At the finissage of the exhibition "Ray Johnson" Wulf Herzogenrath, Vincent Trasov, Peter Schuyff and Aurel Scheibler will talk about the close friendship between Cage and Johnson.

Johnson met Cage at the Black Mountain College, which he attended until 1948. In the early 1950s the two of them as well as Merce Cunningham and the avant-garde composer Morton Feldman were highly interested in the subject of zen-philosophy. Cage’s principle chance, which he derives from the Chinese oracle book I Ging, also served as an inspiration for Johnson’s way of making art. As if wanting to prove this inspiration and his friendship to the composer and performance artist, Johnson repeatedly wrote Cage’s name into his artworks.

The talk takes place in line with the exhibitions "Ray Johnson", Aurel Scheiber (until March 31, 2012) and "John Cage und ... Bildender Künstler – Einflüsse und Anregungen", AdK Berlin (March 30–June 12, 2012).

We are looking forward to seeing you. Please confirm your participation:

news@aurelscheibler.com

Participants:

Prof. Dr. Wulf Herzogenrath
Art Historian and Curator of the exhibition “John Cage und ... Bildender Künstler – Einflüsse, Anregungen” (AdK, Berlin)
Read more about the exhibition