Site-Specificity in the Score-Based Music of John Cage
Traditional conceptions of art that is site-specific typically fall into two general categories: objects that are in some way inseparable from their setting or unique, non-replicable events. The former type is most often associated with visual art, the latter with performance art. In the visual domain, site-specificity is particularly associated with certain sculpture, installation, and land art works. Sound-based installations are often similarly conceived, though in many cases the term installation is used not to denote site-specificity but to identify electroacoustic works that are intended for diffusion in a setting other than a concert hall. Outside of these typical conceptions of site-specificity, the notion might also be applied to certain score-based experimental music compositions that, through their realization or performance, become wedded to their surroundings in one way or another. John Cage’s work is, at times, notable for engaging with space and environment in such a way that the realized work and its surroundings become inseparable. Though portions of several other composers’ output might fall under this rubric, including work by Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, Alvin Curran, and others, Cage’s music offers a fitting initial point of inquiry into site-specific score-based music due to his eminence in American experimental music and his clear influence on these and many other composers. This paper surveys Cage’s body of work, locating compositions such as Variations IV (1963) and 49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs (1977) that become site-specific through performance, and identifies connections and trends between such pieces and the broader context of the composer’s creative output. I have given a short version of this paper at a few conferences and am currently expanding this paper for possible publication.
Confessional - a user-driven installation inspired by John Baldessari
I am currently drafting a short- to medium-length essay that discusses my installation Confessional. Inspired by John Baldessari’s Cremation Project, this user-driven installation provides the opportunity for composers to briefly take pleasure in and then (symbolically) destroy one of their dubious creations.