Presenter
Dwane Decker
Abstract
Time is a fundamental quantity often used to define and contain other quantities. Ignoring the philosophical debate about its true nature, we can agree that we use it, both in science and philosophy, as a tool to guide us through dimensions. Regardless of how Cage used time; as a rigid structure to denote the beginning and end of a timed production of sound, as a guide for replicable chance, or as a substitute for conductor, it was a likely element in his creative process. Simply, for Cage, time was either the vehicle or the road. I will discuss the timepieces John Cage held dear and give my opinion of Cage through the "eyes" of his watch. His watch, today, taught me that it is difficult to comprehend structure in a happenstance of unpredictable events.