My mentor, Stephen Addiss, was a student and long-time friend of John Cage. When we were collaborating on our book stitching speechless, Steve pulled a copy of Cage’s 640 numbers between 1 and 4 out of a drawer in his kitchen, and said we should use it in some way. The copy was marked up—if I remember correctly, from a previous collaboration between the two.

I have kept the Cage piece for decades to use as a studio tool, when I want to introduce a particular type of chance methods into a piece, or if I want to consult Steve and Cage for their opinions.

More recently, I’ve begun making prints reproducing segments of Cage’s randomized sequence of numbers. I want to balance his faith in technology with my own commitment to the analog, since we are living in a world that is experiencing the consequences of unbridled technophilia.

Visual poem.

8” x 8”

Rubber-stamp type, burn marks, punched holes, collage, and aluminum foil on watercolor paper.

$30 (Sold)