Gesammtkustwerk Utopia

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    HPSCHD, Gesamtkunstwerk, and UtopiaAuthor(s): Sara HeimbeckerReviewed work(s):Source: American Music, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Winter, 2008), pp. 474-498Published by: University of Illinois PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40071720 .

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    HPSCHD,Gesamtkunstwerk,andUtopiaSARAHEIMBECKER

    Somuch oes he utwardorm hange,ndyet, fterhundredears, verythingwhich t the utsetwas ncompatibleith ccustomedoncepts,as aded omuchthat ne eesmore imilaritieshan ifferences.- Arnold choenberg,reslau ecture n Die eluckliche andOne oftheposters reated o advertisehe1969performancefJohnCage'sHPSCHD on theUniversityf llinois ampus epicts ohn ageas a warriorseefig. ).Cagewears nAsianwarrior'sreastplatendnonchalantlylings medieval attlexoverhis houlder. e appearsready o lay dragonwith hree eads Beethoven, ozart,ndSchu-mannwhoseworks age"controls"nthe omposition).age's pants,meanwhile,eem to be thoseofan astronaut,ompletewith ubingthat uns oa reel-to-reelapemachine. dd themercurial ingsonhis feet nd thehaloon his head and he seemsthe"patronaint"ofcomputermusic.He laughshisfamiliarpen-mouthaugh,while he"serious" omposerscowlbehindhim.Theharpsichorduckedntothe cenebetween ageandthe apemachine ompleteshe ontrastbetween he ldandthenew.1This phemeral osterypifiesheheroicmage hat ageandhis co-lyteswere lready reatingor im an image hatwouldshapeCagescholarshipo uch degreehatwemayose ightfhowhiswork layson arger rchetypes.onsider hat ollowsnattempto eeHPSCHDinthebroaderight ftwo of those rchetypes:esamtkunstwerkndSara Heimbeckersadjunct rofessorttheUniversityfNorthernolorado.She tudied hemusic fHansRott nFulbrightcholarshipnVienna,ndhaspreviously rittennCage's poetics.he scurrentlyinishingerdissertationon HPSCHD at theUniversityf llinois, rbana-Champaign.American usic Winter 008 2009by the Board of TrusteesoftheUniversity f llinois

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    Figure .Poster rom he 969 erformancefJohn age'sHPSCHDatUniver-sity f llinois.

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    476 Heimbecker

    theUtopiandealbehindt, articularlys thatdeal nfusedniversitycampusesnthe ate1960s.In1967John age beganwork n thisarge-scaleompositionncol-laboration ith omposer/computerngineer ejaren iller t theUni-versityf llinoisnUrbana-Champaignhere tate-of-the-artomputerfacilitiesere vailable.hey ompletedhework, PSCHD the ix-lettercomputerode for harpsichord"),ndpresentedt ntheUniversityfIllinois ssembly all, flying-saucerhaped rena hateats 8,000ndtypicallyosts heuniversity'sighlyuccessful asketballeam.Themultimediapectacleasted our nd a halfhours ndinvolved evenharpsichords,ifty-oneapeplayerswith ccompanyingower mpli-fiersnd oudspeakers)laying08 omputer-generatedapes, ixty-fourslideprojectorshat rojected,400 lides,ndeight ilmrojectorslay-ing ortyilms.age ndHillerwere esponsibleorhe arpsichordarts,programming,ndcomputer-generatedapes,whileCalvin umsion,UIUCgraduatetudent, as incharge f llthe tatic isual lementsand RonNamethnchargef he ilmsnd ighting.2Theharpsichordartsweremadefromieces f hekeyboardanondrawn y hance perationsnspired y heMusikalischesurfelspielV294d ttributedo Mozart.3 hecomputer-generatedapesweremadeof ones eneratedy number fdifferentivisions f he ctave rom5 to56.4While hosemusical lements eremeant obe"microscopic,"the isual lements ere obe"telescopic." age explainedhe onceptina letterothe wissharpsichordistntoinetteischerwhohadcom-missioned hework): The oncert ill lso nclude isual ctivity:ro-jections,ilms elated otelescope,tars, lanets,tc. ince hemusic smicrotonal,icroscope,nd allof hismeetsnthe omputerhich asmade tpossible oexplorehe maller nd the arger,hedistances."5Richard ostelanetz,howrotenenthusiasticeview f he veningforheNewYorkimes,eportedhatflashingnthe utside nder-wallsofthehugedouble-saucerssembly all . . .were n endlessnumberof lides." nside,

    inthemiddle fthe ircularportsrenawere uspended everalparallelheets f emi-transparentaterial,ach100 y 00feet;ndfrom oth ideswereprojectedumerous ilmsnd slideswhosecollaged magery assedthrougheveral heets. unningrounda circulareilingwas a continuous40-footcreen,nd fromhid-denpointnsidewereprojectedlideswithmagerys various souter-spacecenes, agesofMozartmusic, omputernstructions,andnonrepresentationallotches.6Kostelanetzescribedhe ound f he vents "an atonal nd tructuralchaos . .continuallynflux." owever,fadingn andout hroughhemixwere natchesfharpsichord usic hat ounded . . likeMozart;

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    HPSCHD,Gesamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 477. . . thesecame from he seven instrumentalistsisible on platformsnthe center f theAssemblyHall."7NicholasTemperley, niversityf llinoismusicology rofessor,ecallstheevent nless enthusiastic erms:

    On entering he main auditoriumwe saw that he central irculararea was fullof mostly)young people sitting r lounging.Risingfrom hemwas a fogofsmoke, nd the mell ofpotwas beginningto reach the outerspaces. Elsewhere, ome people were sittingnconventional eats,otherswalkingabout. Therewas a continuoussound oftalkingvoices,and some musical sounds,but thespacewas so bigthat heydid notproducea commanding ffect.As timewenton, thinkhevolume of oundgraduallyncreased.I certainly on'tremembernymomentwhen one had a sensethata concert r a performancewas "beginning."Afterwe had sat inour seats for while,we got up and wanderedaround to see whattherewas to see. Severalkeyboardmusicianswereplaying nraisedpodiumsdotted roundthe pace. went s near s I couldget o oneof thesepodiums,perhapssix feet way.On it a slight, omewhatelderly adywas playingharpsichordmusic withgreat oncentra-tion.Although could see herfingersmovingrapidly ver thekeys,I could not hear her music atall; it was completelymaskedbytheweb of ndeterminateounds thatwerefillingheair.After fewmoreminutes,tseemed clear thatnothingmorewasgoing ohappen, o we tookourselves ff. rankly,hewholeexperi-ence was a big disappointment!8Anticipating esponsessuch as Temperley's, age explained to Ko-stelanetzhow toapproachthe work:You don't have tochoose,really, uttoexperience t As you gofrom ne pointofthe hall toanother, ou experience hanges;andhere, oo,eachmandetermineswhathehears.The situation elatesto ndividualsdifferently,ecause attentionsn'tfocused none di-rection. reedomofmovement, ousee, sbasic to boththis rt ndthis ociety.With ll thoseparts nd no conductor, oucan see thateven thispopulous a society an functionwithout conductor.9

    He characterized PSCHD as "a political rtwhich s not aboutpoliticsbutpolitical tself."Thatdefinition eflected age's recent cceptanceofanarchism,whichalignedwithhis preference or cooperation ndthingsbeingmade possible" and encouraging nvironmentsnwhich"anykindof iving an takeplace." Cage was uninterestedn "power,"hesaid,political ndotherwise,ndconsequently ismissive f he oun-terculturalendency oward"flower ower" or "blackpower."10In the HPSCHD event,Cage aimed to createa model of the kindof

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    478 Heimbeckerworld nwhichhe wishedto ive:a world hat llowed for ersonalfreedom;world f bundance; worldnwhich achperspectiveif-fered ndallperspectivesared he ame.nthemakingf hisworkndthe hetorichat ccompaniedt,Cageattemptedkind f vant-gardeGesamtkunstwerk,mock ealityhatmodeled isdream f n anarchicsociety,ust sWagner ad created isownmodel f ocialunity.Whileboth otal rtworksre themiracles fmodernechnology,oth ufferfrompoliticalmbiguity.he estheticndpoliticalriticismeveled ttheWagnerianesamtkunstwerkesoundsnthe riticismf his agean"Happening."

    ReplyingotheKostelanetzeview fHPSCHDquoted bove,VirgilThomson rote,Mr.Kostelanetzdentifieshe estheticpeciesowhich hiswork e-longs s "that eculiarlyontemporaryrt,hekineticnvironment,or nartisticallyctivatednclosedpace."Actuallyhis artisticallyactivated"pace s notvery ifferentrom heWagnerianesamt-kunstwerk,rmusic ramaalso mixed-mediaffair),xcept orverymodernmphasisn themechanicsf howbusiness.Wagnertook hese or ranted,referringouse themess sglamourtemsthan or nderlining ythsndmorals.nboth ases, think,heproductionf cstasy as the im; nd nboth ases urelymusicorsound,nany ase)was themainmerchandise.orWagner'smusiciswhathas survived est utofhiswhole plendidfforto createa newkind f ragedy.11When homson escribedPSCHD as "not ery ifferentromheWag-nerian esamtkunstwerk"erecognizedomethingew nCage'swork.TheCage/Cunningham/Rauschenbergollaborationsfthe ate1950sandearly60sfollowed ot Wagnerian odel ut Brechtianne. n-deed,Brecht,n his notes n theoperaAufstiegndFallder tadtMa-hagonny,rgued gainst heWagnerian esamtkunstwerk.ccordingoBrecht,he usion f he rts ecessitatesdegradationf ach rt, vena degradationf heviewerwhobecomes "passivesuffering)art fthe Gesamtkunstwerk."11Brechtejected esamtkunstwerkartly ecauseofWagner's romi-nencen Nazi culture. sRoger opelandpointed ut, ToBrecht,heNuremburgallieswere negreatWagnerianpera: hemassesmesmer-ized, he uhrer nified ith isfollowers."rechtlarifiedhe onnec-tion etweenheGesamtkunstwerknd the cstatic henhewarned hat

    "everythinghat s meant ohypnotize,ntoxicate,rtofog he ensesmust egiven p."13 recht anted oseparatehe lementsftheater,and to nsurehat he nsuingurrealityept he udiencemembern-gaged, ut riticallyistant.There refew xamples f heBrechtiandealbetterhan heCage/

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    HPSCHD, Gesamtkunstwerk,nd Utopia 479

    Cunningham/Rauschenbergollaborationshat egan nthemid-fiftiesand lasted decade. The first f these ollaborationsoutside f thefamous lackMountain heateriece) s Minutiae1954).Forthisper-formance,unninghamreated dance, age providedhemusic,ndRauschenbergreated free-standingaint ndcollage tructurehose"opulent,omewhatmysteriousresence,"ccordingoNinaSundell,"workedeautifullyith he ance," espitehe act hat itfunctionedverymuch s a discretebject: Rauschenbergainting lacedon thestage, atherhan Rauschenbergtage et."14heCage/Cunningham/Rauschenbergollaborationsollowed hisplan:each element f theperformanceas conceived f ndependently,nd theperformanceconsistedfparallel ctivityhat ouldbeperceived ythe udience sa whole, hrough process escribedyGestalt sychologyheorists.AccordingoCopeland,What unningham,age, ndcompanymakeamply vident sthat heWagnerian odelfor ollaborations not heonlymodel indeed oday,ot ven he ominant odel."Thiskind fcollaborationtemmedrom hathe called almost athologicalndi-vidualism" alanced ya "desire o collaborate ith ther rtistsandartforms)."hus, ndependence,ot nterdependence,overnedheseperformances.unninghamrote: WhatCage,Rauschenberg,nd ]have done nourwork s tobring ogetherhreeeparate lementsntime ndspace, hemusic, hedance ndthedecor,llowing achoneto remainndependent."15In oining ithHillerndothers nHPSCHD,Cage departed adicallyfrom is earlier ollaborativetyle. hough hework nvolved multi-plicity"n tsuse ofvisual mages, lides, ilms,ndsounds ources,twas no "willful ollision fmedia," s werepreviousollaborations.16CageselectedverythingnHPSCHD,albeit hroughhance rocesses,severelyimitinghe ange f electionsyboth hekinds fquestionshe asked and thenature fthematerials. e consistentlyppliedthesame ompositionalrocessesoallthemediapresentnthework. hehexagram rintoutsenerated ythe CHINGprogram overnedhechoice f lides,apes,ndfilms. he mages llcenteredn the ommonthemesf echnologynd outerpace which,f ourse, ere ery ottopicsn1969.As Kostelanetz rote,For ll tsdiffusion. .HPSCHDwas anindubitablyrganic iece,where very lement ontributedtsbit othewhole ndwhichuccessfullystablishedunique nd coher-ent nsemble f nterrelatedarts."17Anart xhibit rom983,ntitlederHang umGesamtkunstwerkTheTendencyoward heTotalArtwork),as subtitledEuropean topiassince 800" ndfeaturedariousntellectual,ultural,ndartistic ani-festationsftheUtopian tendency"nart,ncluding broadrange fcontemporaryorksnvolving ultimediarvirtualealitypaces.18neach ase, he oint fdiscussioneems obethe reationfwhatKoste-

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    480 Heimbecker

    lanetz escribedsan"artisticallyctivatedpace/'whetherhysicalrvirtual,swell s a desire or hatpacetobea U-toposs inSkryabin'sMysterium.19hatmotivatesheses,first,desire oreunitehe rtswhich addisintegratednto iscretearts"nthe ighteenthenturyand, econd, o model Utopianocietyhats similarlyintegrated."Wolfgang omling laimed hat hedissolutionf art" nto he arts"mirroredhe eparationf cience,morality,ndautonomousrtdur-ing he nlightenment.heurge oward esamtkunstwerkes"connectedwith heupheavalofthe ocial,political,ndartistic aluesystems."AccordingoPeterRummenholler,nthis ense, theGesamtkunstzverkbecomes socialReformwerk."20agner's usikdramaasdesignedobea correctiveowhatheperceivedsbrokenocial, olitical,nd artisticvalue ystems,ust sCage'smultimediahappenings" eredesignedtoprecipitatelobalmind hange.InWagner'sonceptf he Artworkf heFuture" "fellowshipfartists" ouldcreatenresponseo communal emand.AccordingoBarryMillington,Theartist fthefuture as thus heVolk, ndtheGesamtkunstwerkheproduct fnecessityrhistoricalnevitability."21Wagnerelievedhat he otal rtwork,hichubsumed hendividualarts,wouldrepresentheunified uman eing s well as theunifiedsociety. ccordingoWagner,hiskindofworkwould not eem thework f nindividualgo,butrathers thenecessarilynified ork fthe Menschener ukunft."11usto,the ollaborativeffort adetoproduceHPSCHD unlikeCage'searlier collaborations"put tselfforwards a modelforiving: ot ust ndependentndparallel oop-eration,utfully orkingogetheroward common nd.Inthemportantrticle nCage's politics,Johnage n a NewKey,"NatalieCrohn chmittdentified shiftnCage's approach opoliticsstartingith is1969 ookA Year rom onday,ndculminatingnEmptyWords rom 979.23nemightrgue, owever,hat his olitical hiftstartedears arlier,recipitatedyCage'sreadingsfThoreaus wellas Cage'sfriends arshallMcLuhan ndBuckminsteruller.24akentogether,heir ritings ovedCagetoward profoundptimismbouttechnology.ith ewtechnologies,ebelieved,ne could dvance e-yond epresentingnaturendhermannerf peration"owardreating"the ision f n deal ociety."25At he ime e discoveredhoreau's ournaln1967, agewasalreadywritingbout narchynd thewaysthat rt ouldexemplifyt. nhisDiary rom967, agewrote,Artnstead fbeing nobjectmadebyonepersonsa processet nmotiony group fpeople.Art's ocial-ized. t sn't omeoneaying omething,utpeopledoing hings,ivingeveryoneincludinghosenvolved)he pportunityohave xperienceshewouldnot therwiseavehad."26y he ime fHPSCHD,1969, agereferredohimselfsnotust s anarchist,ut s a "Thoreauviannar-

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    HPSCHD,Gesamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 481chist." n a numberof nterviews e discussedThoreau and the dea ofanarchy hat hedlight nthis ppellation.One ofthese nterviewswaswithJosephHaas oftheChicagoDailyNews,printedon May 10, 1969,justa fewdaysbefore heHPSCHD eventattheUniversity f llinois:haas: Whenyou speakofrejectingaluesystems, oyoumeanyouwanttoeliminate alues inhumanbehavior, oo,ordo you limit ttoart?cage: No, no, would extend tto ife.Haas: But aren't tandardsof behaviornecessary o civilization?cage: Thoreauwouldn't have agreed.He said we have all thisgovern-ment nd law and businesssimply okeep twoIrishmen rom ight-ing nthe streets. e also went on tosaythatpeople willhave,whenthey're eadyfor t,no governmentt all. That s tosay, herewill beno value judgmentswhatsoever.haas: Butuntilpeople arereadyfor t, ren't thical ystemsneeded?cage: Yes,but fwewait until hat ime, hat imewillnever ome. There-forewe beginwith thattime n the fieldswhere tis possible to dowithout uchstandards, uch value judgments, opreparethewayand art s one of them.27

    Cage's understanding fanarchy ndhisdesireto use art o"preparetheway" is particularly merican.Europeananarchists ended toviewanarchistmovements s collectiveand socialized, whereas Americananarchists ocused on the ndividual.According oRob Haskins,Cageknew of this distinction romJamesMartin'shistory f Americanan-archism,MenAgainst he tate, ublished n 1953.28 ut nmany ways,Cage's understanding fanarchy s typicalofwhatGeorgeWoodcockcalled the new anarchists"nthe1960s.The anarchists fthe1940swere"bellicose arricaders,reaming noffensivelyf heviolent verthrowfthe tate,"whereas he narchistsf he1960swere"militantacifists."nshort, ccording oWoodcock, he"old revolutionaryect ofthe1940s]has not beenresurrected,ut n itsplace has appeared a moral-politicalmovement ypicaloftheage."29Cage, and othernew anarchists fthesixties, till pokeof"revolution," ut their evolutionwas not a radicalassaulton thefoundations f ociety,ut rather humanistic xtension ftheemancipatoryrend et nmotionduring heEnlightenment.age'srevolution id not nvolve a violentoverthrow fthe tatebutrather fthought.husCage's faith nanarchy ed to artworks hatwould actasschoolmasters teaching s how itmight e to ive na world "withoutconductors."The anarchistic topiathatCage envisionedwas impossiblewithouttechnology,articularlys expoundedbyBuckminster uller nd Mar-shall McLuhan. Fullerwas very optimistic bout thepotential f tech-nology nthedistribution ftheworld's resources.30age believedthatas technology ecame increasingly ophisticated,we would be able to

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    482 Heimbeckermeet heworld'smaterial eeds nd at the ametimewould have n-creasingmounts f eisure ime. usts theBuddhistevotee chievesenlightenmenthrough hatCagewouldcall a "mind hange/'o toocantheworld orglobalvillage change hroughechnology:I thinkhatwhat echnologys, swhatFullerndMcLuhan avesaid t s anextensionf ur apacitiesndourpresentechnologyextends he entralervousystem.othat find his ery earten-ing ntermsf change f ociety.. it ouldbethroughhangingthe lobalmind, hichs a mind ecause f he echnology,ecauseof he entral-nervous-systemxtension,hat an, hen,hange o-ciety... In thepast,wehavethoughthat utopia"was a lovelydream ut mpractical,nd thinkurtechnologys nowmakingitpractical.31Kostelanetzoined he ermtechnoanarchism"odescribeheuse oftechnologyo dvance narchisticdeals. orKostelanetz,age,McLuhan,Fuller,ndothers,he nswer o he urrentssues pollution,verpopu-lation, ehumanization,overtywasnot esstechnology,utmore.32Thecelebratoryse ofthe omputernHPSCHD not o mentionhework'seitmotiff paceflightdemonstratedhehopethat echnoanar-chist ageplacedn echnology.ustsWagner's esamtkunstwerkeanbeconceivedf sKunstkammernf he cientificnd rtisticchievementsfnineteenth-centuryermany,PSCHD wasa Kunstkammerf wentieth-centuryechnology.t was a celebrationfthe ate1960s' echnologicalworld isplayednmicrocosm.Cagewaseager o tress he otentialf echnologyndglobalwelfareineachofhis nterviewsromotinghe llinois PSCHDperformance.Infact, agewasmore ikelyo discussFuller nd McLuhan han hecompositionalechniquessedtocreate hepiece. na 1967Newsweekarticle nCageand hiswork nprogressttheUniversityf llinois,global oliticsndtechnologyominatehe iscussion.agetoldNews-week,Ourproperwork ow fwe ovemankindndtheworldwe ivein .. is revolution."hereporteroundtnecessary,oclarify age'sstatement:

    Cage'srevolutionsthe ore f newhumanismndsocial oncernthat scoming utofthe stheticvant-garde.hisrevolutionasnothingo do withgunsor even deology it has to do with heproper se of he ast echnologieshatmake tpossible o nalyzea thunderclapr a faultyociety.33HPSCHD,however, asmore hanust celebrationf echnology.f twas torepresentpossible uture,hentmustnvolve uman gency.Indeed,tneeded o tell story.To understandow tmaybepossible oclaim hat PSCHDisa Ge-

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    HPSCHD, esamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 483samtkunstwerkn theWagnerianraditionftheMusikdrama,nemustfirstnderstandhat age nsistedhat PSCHDand other orksweretheaterieces.34n 1985Cage toldDavid Shapiro, I lovethetheater.Infact,usedtothink henwewere o closetogetherEarleBrown,Mortoneldman,hristian olff,avidTudor,myself-usedtothinkthat he hinghat istinguished yworkfromheirswas thatminewas theatrical."ostelanetzlaimed hatnoneofhismoregenerousmoments, ilton abbittaidthat age"is lessconcerned ithmusi-calstructurehanwith heater."35t s alsoclear rom age'sextensivewritingsnd nterviewshatHPSCHDis "about" reatingmodelfora Utopian,narchicociety.ut anoneclaim hat hisworksa drama?Doesthework,ndeed, resent narrative?Certainly PSCHD exhibitsmany lementsommon ootherUto-piannarratives,speciallyn tsforegroundingf pace physical,ndas a topic),ndtravel.ut s tpossible ocreate theateriece nwhichtheres not centralrotagonist,ndnarrativehat oesnotnecessarilycommunicateunifiedmessage?n his nfluentialrticle,AnsweringtheQuestion:WhatsPostmodernism?"ean-Frangoisyotardlaimedthat hiss not nly ossible, ut sa likely esultnpostmodernrt:

    Thenarrativeunctions osingtsfunctors,tsgreat ero,tsgreatdanger,tsgreat oal. t sbeingdispersedn cloudsofnarrativelanguage lements narrative,utalso denotative,rescriptive,descriptivendsoon.Conveyedwithinachcloud repragmaticvalences pecifico tskind. achofus lives tthe ntersectionfmany f hese. owever, edonotnecessarilystablishtablean-guage ombinations,ndthe ropertiesf he neswedo establisharenotnecessarilyommunicable.36HPSCHD aptly uggests hekindofartworkyotard escribes. s atheateriece, tdidnottell he tory fone"great ero," ut createdthe pacefor numberf ndividual arrativesotnecessarilyasedonstableanguageonnections,sLyotard rote,ndnotnecessarilyom-municable(I).imilarly,or olandBartheshe leasurendmeaningntheateridnotoriginate ith brilliantlyrittenarrative,utratherfromhe densityf igns" reatedhroughesture,one,ubstance,ndlight.orBarthes,his heater asa world hat eeded obedeciphered,butnotnecessarilyworld ependentntext.37In this amepostmodernein, agewasclearlyuspiciousf he erm"symbol,"hedeathatrt an ommunicate,ndthe oncepthat thingcanstand or notherhing. agesawthepotentialnsigns osparkmultiplicityfreactions,omeofwhichwereperhapsmeaningless.n-stead f reatingorkshat ommunicategivenmessage, agecreatedopportunitiesor xperience,pportunitiesoexplorehemultiplicityfintersectionsnwhichwelive.Cage'spluralistic,onhierarchical,ul-

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    484 Heimbeckertimedia onstructions similar oBarthes'escriptionf he ideal ext":"thenetworksremany ndinteract,ithoutnyoneofthem eingable tosurpass he est;his ext sa galaxy f ignifiers,ot structureof ignifieds;thas nobeginning;t sreversible;egain ccess o tbyseveral ntrances,oneofwhich an be authoritativelyeclared o bethemain ne."38 hisdismissal f ommunications not oexcuseCageoftheburden fcommunication,utrather o free he rtwork;o etitbe, s Cage put t,Yatha utham,hichmeans just s it s." Works fart, or age, renot symbols"adenwith eepermeaning,utrather"anactionwhich s mplicitlyothing."39

    Freed romhe urden f epresentation,efelt,agemadeHPSCHDavessel or topianarrative.nhis rticle,FrontiersfUtopia: ast ndPresent,"ouisMarin xplains hatUtopian arrativesypicallyeginwith journeyfrom placetoa no-place, route ou-topia."40heUtopianarrativeroceeds romthe respassingf limit,he rossingof frame,f threshold."hillipWegnerurtherotes hat narrativeUtopiasremore kin otraveler'stineraries,r narchitecturalketch,tracingnexploratoryrajectory,narrativeine hat,s itunfolds. .engendersomethingew ntheworld."41InHPSCHD theourney eganwhen he articipantrossed he hresh-old nto he space"of hework,nd thedirectionfthe tory asde-terminedy he articipant.hile lderUtopianarrativeseginwithtravely ea, heHPSCHD ourneysa space lightnabled y echnologyand llustratedy mages rom ASA.Cage highlightedhe emporalityoftheUtopian erformancey eaving he tart ndstoptimes pen-ended. AsTemperleyut t, I certainlyon'tremembernymomentwhen nehad a sense hat concertr performanceas beginning.'")Utopiannoplace"and ndeed no time" uggesthatHPSCHDrepre-sents possible,narchicuture,nd not prescriptiveuture;heUto-pianfutures not fixed,eterminedshould e,"butratherflexible,multiplewhat f."42Cage nsistedhat ach ndividualnHPSCHD' audience eterminethedirectionfhisorher wnnarrativeymoving hroughhe erfor-mance pace.He did notwant veryoneo eave performanceavingheard nd seenfrom he ameperspective.43nunfortunateide-effectofWagner's arkened uditoriumndpassive udience adbeenthatthe ndividual aradoxicallyeltsolated despite hefact hat ercep-tion f he iecewouldbefairlyonsistenthroughouthe heater.ageworked gainst his enseof solation, hatVirginiaWoolf eferredoas the orts,craps ndfragments"fthe udience nd the exile" fthe pectator.44agewanted ocialperceptionndresponseatherhanpersonal, rivatexperience. ageunderstoodhat [a]udiences ormtemporaryommunities,ites fpublic iscoursehat,longwith hen-tense xperiencesfUtopianerformatives,anmodelnew nvestments

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    HPSCHD, esamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 485inand nteractionsith ariouslyonstitutedublic pheres."45nthiscontextt shelpfulounderstandhat age's dealaudience s not neunit, utmultiple.ackofunitynthe udience s not deficiencyutboon.Pianist ndpedagogueErrolHaun,whohadbeenstudyingt theUniversityf llinois ndwhohelpedCage prepare apesfor heper-formance,asworkings a fosterarentt a children's ome n1969.He invitedhreeeenage oys romhe oster ome o ttend he erfor-mance. heyweren't ure heywanted o ttend concerttthe niver-sity,hinkingerhaps itwouldbe toohigh row or hem."till, aunrecalled,as soon s wegot nthedoor,we didn't ee thekidsuntilwerounded hem ptogohome."What ppealed othese oys, ccordingtoHaun,was anunderstandinghat eachparticipantas as muchpart fthepieceas thepeoplewho werepaidtoperform."ccordingtoHaun,

    Theyknew hatf heywent nd istened o thisharpsichordndthenwent nd istened othat arpsichord,ndthenwent pandlistened o someofthe lectronic usic hat heywere ncontrolof theperformance.tis very . . what's theword . .free, ouweren'tust ittingnoneplaceandgetting nly neperspectiveoftheperformance.46CharlesHamm greed:Eachpersonmadewhathe wanted f hepiece nd, hus,twasadifferentvent or veryone hoattended;ach saw andheard tfromhe tandpointfwhenhewasthere, here e was nthehall,how onghestayed, hom e saw andtalkedwithwhile here, hatmoodhe wasin, ndwhat ttitudes e had about uch vents.47Cagediscussed he mportancef thiskindofphysical reedomna 1974 nterview ithEricMottram fter woperformancesfHP-SCHD inEngland.Mottram escribed heRoundhouse erformanceonAugust 3,1972,nwhich he udiencefreelymovedthroughhespace:"You had tokeep moving o thatyoucould both ee andheartheperformancess a whole,making our wn environments audi-encewithinhe ontrolsf he omposer." agetook mbrage ith heword controls"nd nsistedhat better ordwould beprovisions,"orrather,tilities:o seea pieceofmusic s somethinghat ouldbeused." Mottrammmediatelyecognizedhat hisdistinctionllumi-

    nated hepoliticsf hework the ubstitutionf uthoritarianontrol,for somethinghat an be used."The econd erformance,nAlbert all onMay22,differednmanyobviouswaysfrom heRoundhouse erformance,specially,ccordingtoCage,"because fthe rchitecture."ntheAlbert all,the udience

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    486 Heimbecker

    was seatedwithCage and Tudor on thestageand ten oudspeakersattheback ofthe uditorium. age describedhow he was forced oacceptthatthe audience was seated,but at least wanted the oudspeakerstosurround heaudience, "so thatpeople sitting n one side could laterconversewithpeoplewho had beensittingn theother nddiscover hattheyhad heardsomethingdifferent."nfortunately,age said, "Thattoo was notpossible."48ThekindofUtopiannarrative hatCage wished to create nHPSCHDwas notpossiblewith a seated audience whose experience f the workwould be mostly niform.n short, performance iecewith specificstoryliner dramatic hread, r evena work tructured osupport sin-glenarrative,annotmodel an anarchic ociety.n UtopianPerformanceJillDolan wrote, Anyfixed, tatic mage or structure ould be muchtoo finitend exclusionary or he oaring enseofhope,possibility,nddesire that mbuesUtopianperformatives."49In thiscontext,Cage's 1958 interviewwithMike Wallace becomesclear:cage: Those artists orwhomI have regardhave always puttheirworkat the service ofreligionor ofmetaphysical ruth.And artwithout

    meaning, ikemine, s also atthe erviceofmetaphysical ruth. ut tputs it n termswhich areurgent nd meaningful oa personof thiscentury.Wallace: Meaningful?Butyou said ithas no meaning.cage: But mean nomeaninghasmeaning.Wallace: Oh?cage: Yes. This dea ofno idea is a very mportantdea.50Adorno seems to echoCage's claimthatnomeaning smeaningful henhe wrote hat ven absurdist iteraturehas a stake nthedialectic."Theabsence ofmeaning, venthenegation fmeaning,nHPSCHD "iswhatboth llows for nd demands nterpretation."or dancer nd filmmakerYvonneRainer,fter age, "narrative eemednolonger obe an issue."51Except, fcourse,for henarrative fnonnarrativity.Cage, then,gave us the 1960s' versionofWagner'sUtopian rtwork.In Die KunstunddieRevolution, agnerwrote

    Art nd the nstitutionsf rt .. could becometheforerunnersndpatterns or ll future ommunalorganizations.The spiritwhichbrings ogethern artisticommunity orking or he chievementof truegoalshouldalso be found nevery ther ocialorganizationwhich etsbefore tselfn honorable urpose.Then ndeedallofourfuture ocial conductcan and shouldbe ofa pureartistic ature.52Inboth ases,Cage andWagner epresentedheprevailing hilosophicaloutlooks ftheir imes. orWagner,ccording oMillington,thereunit-

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    HPSCHD, esamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 487ing f onstituentartsntheGesamtkunstwerkirroredhe ocialistimofrestoringntegrityoa fragmented,ivided ociety."orCage,thiskind f ollaborativertwork as motivatedy, sCagehimselfut t,"thenecessityofind ew formsf iving ogether."53Thedegreeowhichnavant-garde ultimediaompositionikeHP-SCHD or theWagnerian esamtkunstwerkuccessfullyreatedmodelsfor utureealitiess,of ourse,pen odebate. ut hekinds f riticismleveled tboth reremarkablyimilar.opeland's ritiquef he 960s'multimediaventwasthat t reated "sensoryverloadnvironment"which ftenclobber[ed]heirudiencesnto lissed-outubmission."54PeterGayassessed heWagnerianesamtkunstwerkhisway:On the nehand, t theGesamtkunstwerketting] orked opushthe xperiencef isteningeyondhentensityvailable oordinarymortals. n theother and, trobbed rue elievers ftheir learsense f eparateelfhood.ike therrowds,nlymore ecorously,participantsntheBayreuthmbianceurrenderedheirndividual-ity or sharedpiritualath nd collectivedorationf he eniuswhohadbroughthem here.55Adornondothers ontendhatnstead f reating Utopianirtuale-ality,heWagnerianesamtkunstwerks a "politicallyuspectuthoritar-ian structure"hich s "rootednthe rimalandscape ffascism." orAdorno,heGesamtkunstwerkepresentspower emandingbedience,a rationallyonstructedrtificialholenessepudiatingreewill," nd"Wagner's eeminglynifiedotality,hich urnsut nthe ndtobeamerellusion,wes ts xistenceo the xtirpationf he ndividual."56WhileWagner's oal mayhavebeen ocreate he rtworkf he uture,hisresult asperhapshemost utonomousndelitistrtworkmagin-able.AccordingoWilliamWeber,

    ThefollowersfWagneraunched he irst ovementhataw tselfas a musical vant-garde,n intellectualadre upporting orksthat tclaimedwereprogressivend,bydefinition,ontroversial.InsodoingWagnerismaidthe ntellectualndsocialgroundworkforhe ise f he elf-containedultural orld fnewmusic, hichtoday evotes tselfrimarilyocontemporaryorks.57Arguably,he udience hat articipatednthehero-worshipfWag-ner aidthe ornerstoneor he onstructionf he ntellectualudiencethataudedCage nthe1960s. riticsecognizedhat agewaslargely

    supported ythis lite,ntellectualadre ndsome claimed hat hecomposeridnot ofar noughodistanceimselfromhe pper-class,bourgeois,ultural egemony.hiswas the ase na 1970 nterviewfCagewithMaxNyffelernwhichNyffeleroted hat eoplereferredoCageas "theester f hebourgeoisociety."58

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    488 Heimbeckernyffeler: t sa fact hatyourmusic, ike llrelevant rt ftoday, eachesonly nextremelymallgroup f hepopulation ecauseof heprivilegeof ducation,which hedominant lass tries okeepbyallmeans,not tlastby highentrance ees ikehere ttheSt.Paul-de-Vence estival.cage: In thefifties, hen I gave a concert, would advertise t,and atthemost,125people would come. WhenI gave HPSCHD in Illinoislastyear, omewherebetween 7000and 9000people came,and theycame from ll over thecountry they ame even from urope. gavea Music Circus[sic] n Illinois theyearbefore nd 5000people came,and the concertwas free. gave the one inMinneapolisthisyearand

    another 000people came and itwas free.Things rechanging.59Whatwas changing? age's ability odraw a large udience, ertainly,due to hisincreasing opularity or,formany, otoriety.ut as for ul-tural hange,the situation s less clear.Later n the nterview age ad-mitted hathe foundhis audienceinAmerica t theuniversity,nd sawhimself s existing, ot ntheEuropeantradition fthecourt s "jester,"butratherntheAmerican ntellectual raditionhat ncludedpoets ikeThoreauand Emerson:cage: [Thoreau ndEmerson] orm artoftheuniversityifemuchmorethantheydo of the adult lifeof the US. What s theaverage personin the US when he is grown up and he has a job and makes his liv-ingand payshis bills? He spendshisevenings ooking tTV.TheTVwould not et me on a program.Therefore'm not a court ester,'mmorea teacher.60

    The Americanuniversity unctioned,neffect,s Cage's Bayreuth.tgave himfunding, he atest state-of-the-artechnology,nd a ready-madeaudience.And theuniversityrovided omethingf shelter romthe "real" world- the"TV culture" hatCage describedabove- and ahaven for he ntellectual nd social elite. Considertheparadox: Cagestagedan eventthat ntended o model a Utopian, galitarian ociety none of the most elitist renas ofAmerican ife.Cage's pretensions o anarchismnside a university ereonlypartoftheproblem.The Viskupicposterwith which we began illustrates heapparentcontradiction etweenthe self-toutednarchiccomposerofchance nd his actualrole s mastermind. here ssimilarly dissonancebetweenCage's pretensionoglobal political ngagementwhilehefailedtoengagesome ofthemost salientpoliticalfacts fhis mmediate nvi-ronment. onsider,for xample,theproblemthe Americanuniversityhad at thetimewith racialequality.In1967only bout1percent fundergraduatestUniversityf llinoisatUrbana-ChampaignwereAfrican merican.61fter he ssassinationofMartinLutherKingJr., niversityhancellorJackPeltasonpledged

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    HPSCHD,Gesamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 489to enroll500 newminoritytudents or Special EducationalOpportu-nitiesProgram,which became known as Project 00. ClarenceShelleywas hired nthe ummer f 1968 tooversee theprogram,nd StanLevywas broughtnthe same yearas associate dean ofstudents.AccordingtoLevy, in midAugust1968,we wereattending meeting tthefinan-cial aid office. ythat ime record, ut ndeterminate,umberof newAfrican- merican tudentswas due to enroll boutSeptemberl5th . .in actuality bout 625registered."Whenthese students howed up oncampus theyfound nadequate housingand insufficientinancial id.Thenight efore lasses started, hese tudentsmarched o the StudentUnioninprotest, laiming hat heassignment fpoorhousingwas ra-ciallymotivated.Many stayed n the union untilaftermidnight,werearrested or respassing,nd spent henightn ail.62 heChicago ribunereportedhat he tudents ad caused over$50,000ndamage byvandal-izingthebuilding a claim ater hownto be unfounded).63 n editorialprinted n the same paper described thestudents as "slum productson scholarships"who "wentape" and "swung from hechandeliers."NathanielBanks,one of thefreshmenhatyear,described thecampusin1968 as "a hostile nvironment." oyAnnWilliamson, uthorof BlackPower nCampus:TheUniversityf llinois 965-1975, escribed he 1968university nvironmentn generalas one ofinstitutionalized acism.According oMichaelFultz, he pecific ocusofthe llinoisprotestmayhave been housing arrangementsnd financial id packages,but "thesubtextwas thepoliticsof social change nAmerican ociety nthe ate1960s."64Cage seemed ignorant f, fnotdismissiveof, hesestudents' trug-gles, despitethefact hathe was on campusduringmostof the 1968-69academicyear. n the 1970 nterviewwithNyffeler,age was asked tocomment n the "blackpeople's culture":cage: Well,when I began musicallywithmterestmnoises,the reasonwas, thatthe noises were freeof the aws ofharmony nd counter-point.Now theexciting hing bout theblacks s,that hey regoingto be free fthe aws,whichweremadebythewhites oprotect hemfrom heblacks, mongother hings,nd tokeeptheblacks nslaveryand tokeep the whitepeople morepowerful.Now, itwon't be goodfor heblacks to becomepowerful ike thewhites inthe ame sense;anymore han twould be good for henoises to becomeas harmoni-ous and as devoted tocounterpoints themusical sounds.We needrather as we have alreadydone inmusic to dentifyurselveswiththenoisesandto start rom situationwithout hose awsof hewhitesor ofthemusicaltones. think hat veryfewblacksunderstand hat.Theymostly hink heywould liketo be ustas powerful s thewhites.That's nottheproperway.65

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    490 HeimbeckerWhile uperficiallyupportivefblacks, age'sremarkskirtny ym-pathetic nderstandingftheAfrican mericantudents'trugglesncampus. is commentslsoreflectmisunderstandingf he ermBlackPower"which,ccordingoWilliamson,sclosely elated o the reationof pportunitiesa tenet entraloCage'sphilosophy.66ToCage,racedid not eema central roblemfthe ime not ikepovertynd thedistributionfresources,or xample.David Patter-son has argued hat ritiquing age for hat shardly air, iven hatthevastmajorityfcontemporaryomposers ere lsolargelyilenton the ace ssue.Pattersonlsopoints utthat agedid notdealwithspecific,ocal-leveloliticalssues "anti-warrotests,ace ssues t nygiven ime,GLBT ssuesfor hatmatter."agechose nstead o focuson "certain eta-issueshat e discoveredhrough arshallMcLuhan"includinghe disseminationf nformation,he mplicationsfmassmedia, tc."AccordingoPatterson,ageand others ere involvedna verybstractind f ocialrevolutionhat ould erve s an umbrellafor ll sorts f ub-issues."67Theremaybe three roblemswith xcusing age from n accusa-tion fhypocrisy.hefirststhat ageclaimed hatwhathe wasdoingwith is rtwasremarkablyifferentrom hat is ontemporarieseredoing sociallyndpolitically,s well as compositionally.agewroteinEmpty ords,Somepoliticallyoncernedomposerso not omuchexemplifyntheir ork hedesiredhangesnsocietys they setheirmusic spropaganda or uch hanges ras criticismf he ocietys itcontinuesnsufficientlyhanged."68he econd roblem ith xcusingCage s that acewas "meta ssue" nthe ate1960s ndcertainlynedifficulto gnore. hecivil ightsmovement as ust s importantndvisible spoverty,hedistributionfgoods, he se ofmodernechnol-ogy,nd the ontrol fmedia topics nwhich agewrotendspokefrequently.Thethird roblem-n the ase ofHPSCHD,at east-is that age'sclose rtisticolleagueswerenotnecessarilyomposers.Weare accus-tomedoviewing age'sworkn he ontextfmid-centuryighmusicalmodernism. sHenry lint ut t, ythe atefifties,Babbitt,enakis,Stockhausen,age, ndtheirolleagues ere ngagedn franticace ofield hemost adicalmusic ratherike he ace o hemoon."69erhapswe cannot oldCageto highertandardhan heseontemporaries,obesure. utCagesawhimselfsan artistf he heater,hose eerswerenstagecraft.na 1969 nterviewith ichardriedman,age aid hatsit-tingnrows . watchingperformancey few thers. [is] luxurywe candowithout."agepreferredhe heater,specially appeningsandperformancesytheLiving heater.agefoundike-mindedom-patriotsnthe heater,speciallyhe iving heatrertistsudith alina,Julian eck, nd HanonReznikov,ho also"givefirstlacetohuman-

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    HPSCHD,Gesamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 491ity'sUtopiandesires,wanttheater oexpress hesedesires ndprefigureUtopia, nd are convincedthat ocial structureshwart r deform urneeds. Theyhave always coupled rebellion nd creation, nd are opentoa multiplicityfmeans."Whileavant-garde omposersmaynothavehad thiskind of mmediate ocial content t the center f theirwork, twas an important artofmanytheaterworksfrom hemid-sixties.70One thing hatmayhave hampered Cage in addressingthe ssue ofrace had he wished to do so lies nhis choiceof heGesamtkunstwerkshis medium. n HPSCHD Cagehadcreated very uropean tructure,nethatdid notreadilyyieldto relevantAmerican ocial content.Nordid itreally llow for multiplicityfvoices.AsGeorgeLewisputs t,Cagewasa composerwho locatedhis work as "an integral artofa sociomusicalartworldthat xplicitly ondedwiththe ntellectualnd musicaltradi-tionsofEurope."WhileCage seemed at times ocritique heEuropean,contemporaryulture, e was "explicitly oncernedwithcontinuing odevelop this Western' radition n theAmerican ontinent."71he Uto-piannature fHPSCHD actually onstrained im.Cage was caught n anironic ouble-bind:n order orepresentnanarchic arrative,nartworkmust llowfor iversity.et, heproblemwithUtopian onstructss thatin the end theyoften ecome totalitarian. lizabeth Grosz arguesthatUtopias,by their erynature, involve thefragilenegotiation etweenan ideal mode of social and politicalregulation nd the cost of this hatmustbe bornebythe ndividualsthusregulated."Unity, rder, nd thenecessity fconsistent,moralconduct nevitably estrict ome expres-sions of ndividuality;here s a priceto be paid for rder nd stability."BecauseUtopias oncretizedeals aboutthefull angeofearthlyife ntoa comprehensive escription fsociety,he totalistic ualityofUtopiasleads manvto accuse the eenre oftotalitarianism."72And so we return ia HPSCHD to Thomas More'sUtopia. By design,More'sUtopia sa self-containedocation,ociety,ndeconomy;nisland,surroundedbycalm seas but a rockyharbor, ifficult orforeignersoenter not unlike university,ith ts self-containmentndhomogene-ity.While the HPSCHD eventdid notexplicitly enyaccess to anyone,the mplicit acismof theuniversitynvironmentas well as theavant-gardeartworld)casts ts shadow on theevent.Groszwrote, No Utopiahas been framed o takeaccountofnotonlythediversityfsubjects, utthediversityf their topicvisions."73Yvonne Rainer evels preciselythis same critiqueat Cage and spe-cificallyn reference o works likeHPSCHD, which functionwithoutnarrative, ut consistofa succession of"nonsignifyingignifiers." heresultof such an artwork,ccordingtoRainer, s that one is leftwithan impenetrableweb of undifferentiatedvents set inmotionby andreferringack to theoriginalflamboyantrtist-gesture,n thiscase theabandonmentofpersonaltaste." The audience, therefore,s left o ap-

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    492 Heimbecker

    predate amanifestationfyet nemoreArtists Transcendentalgo."Themeaningf uch work, ainerlaimed,s setby he rtist not heaudience,s participatorys that udiencemaybe "just s surelysanymonolithic,nassailable,ndproperlyalidatedmasterpiece."74DespiteCage'sclaims o the ontrary,s thebuilding fan anarchicUtopia ossible?nEmpty ords1979) agewrote,Wenowhavemanymusical xamples f hepracticalityf narchy... Bymakingmusicalsituations hich reanalogies o desirable ocial ircumstanceshichwe do notyethave,wemakemusic uggestivendrelevantothe eri-ousquestionswhich aceMankind."75et,HPSCHDhardlyddressesthe seriousuestions,"or oesthe tagingf uch n "anarchic"ventinthe niversitynvironmentanenvironmentf trictlyodedbehav-ior seemrealistic.76In1992Norman . Brown riticizedage's philosophys "a lullabysayingt'sgoingobealright";ainer escribedt s"goofyaivete."heissue s that age sguilty,s Rainerut t, f otallygnoringworldwidestrugglesor iberationnd therealities f mperialistolitics." age'ssilence n the ace ssue eemed ogive onsento the tatus uo.77In1969Gilbert hasewrote n article escribingewworks hat x-plored hepossibilitiesf newkind fAmericanmusical heater.heworks ncludednhisconcisenalysisreVirgil homson'sour aintsinThreects, arry artch's he ewitched,age'sTheateriece, iller'sAnAvalanche,ndLarry ustin's heMaze.Chasecloses he rticle itha kind f callto arms":

    Ifmusic,ndparticularlyhemusical heatre,s tomake he ransi-tion romlosed oopenform,hen erhaps ecoulddo worse hanto hinkf t sa time-spacextravaganzaa synthesisf he heaterofthe bsurd, he heater fcrueltyas defined yArtaud),78hetheaterfhappenings,f vents,f ctivities,f nvironmentsthe"totalheater"f ntermedia,rossingllboundaries,ranscendingallcategories.79Inotherwords, hasechampioned esamtkunstwerkeor he wenti-eth entury,fwhichHPSCHD wouldprovide o notable nexample.Copelandput twell:Perhaps aradoxically,he 1960s']ulture-at-largeasexperiencinga full-fledgedevival fWagnerismnthe echnologizeduiseof"multi-media."sychedeliciscothequesikeNewYork'slectricir-cus, hemulti-screennvironmentalrojectionystemsoprominentatExpo67, ndthe echno-utopianroposalsfMarshallMcLuhan,Buckminsteruller,ndGeneYoungblood ere llpart ndpar-celof his henomenon.Infact,McLuhan'sglobal illage" anbethoughtf s a high ech ersion ftheGesamtkunstwerkn which

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    HPSCHD, esamtkunstwerk,ndUtopia 493the oundariesetween ulturesnd ndividualsrebridged andblurred electronically.)80Cage'saestheticsotwithstanding,PSCHD s not o much critiqueof hehighmodern,ut continuationf t, ras DanielBellput t, he"logical ulminationfmodernistntentions."81HPSCHDclearlyeems nattempto "revitalizeheheritagefthe[high-modernist]uropean vantgarde."82he connectionoEuropecomes ot nly hroughts estheticndtheoreticalffinityithGesamt-kunstwerk,ut lsothroughhedesire o create sociopolitical,topian,

    art-spacehatervess a model or utureommunities.agecreated P-SCHD andthe udiencexperiencedt againstnenormousackdropofpreexistingrt orms. o see t s anotherttempttGesamtkunstwerkallowsus to submittto thekind f crutinyhat as argelyeenmiss-ing romagiographictudies,rhistorieshat ismiss ageentirely.ordecadesnow,musicologistsave ritiqued agnern ightfhispolitics.Cage scholarshipquite orrectlyhasbegun odo the ame.NOTES

    1.Theposterwas createdbygraphic rtistGaryViskupic,who studiedgraphicdesignattheUniversityf llinois n1967-68.2. Cage and Hiller createdthree omputerprograms or hecomposition f thispiece.The first as ICHING, whichwas designedtoreplicate heprocessoftossing oins to cre-atehexagrams.The second, DICEGAME, was designedtoreplicate he selectionprocessoutlined n theMusikalischesWurfelspiel.he third,HPSCHD, was used togenerate hetapes. For an excellentdescription f how the work was designedand constructed,eeStephenHusarik,"John age and LejarenHiller:HPSCHD, 1969,"AmericanMusic1,no.2 (1983):1-21.3. In addition to severalkeyboardworksbyMozart,thefollowingpieces were usedas source materialforHPSCHD: Beethoven'sAppassionata onata;Chopin's Prelude inD Minor, pus 28; Schumann's"Reconaissance" fromCarnaval;Gottschalk'sTheBanjo;Busoni's Sonatina no. 2; Cage's Winter usic;and Hillers Sonata no. 5.4. The twelve-tone ivision of the octave was notreproducedbycomputer-generatedtape,butratherwas notated nd is Solo I. The decision to startwithfive nd end with56tonesperoctavewas inspiredby HarryPartch.Cage mentioned his n a June12, 1969,letter o Hiller. n a draft fa description f his work to be completedat theuniversityentitled Music forHarpsichord"September 967),Cage againmentions hat hedivisionsof the octave "will follow the work ofHarryPartch," utdeleted the reference rom hefinaldraft. ohn age Collection,Northwestern niversityMusic Library, vanston, 11.5. Husarik,"John age and LejarenHiller,"11;John age, typed etter,March9, 1969,inJohn age Collection,Northwestern niversityMusic Library,vanston, 11.6. RichardKostelanetz,"TheyAll Came toCage's Circus,"New York imes,May 25,1969,23D.7. Ibid.8. NicholasTemperlev,-mail toauthor, une 8,2006.9. RichardKostelanetz, Environmental bundance," nJohn age, d. RichardKostel-anetz,DocumentaryMonographs nModernArt New York:Praeger, 970),175.

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    494 Heimbecker10. bid.11.VirgilThomson, Cage and theCollage ofNoises/'New York eview fBooks, pril23, 1970,http: /www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=10997.12."So long s the xpressionGesamtkunstwerk' eansthat he ntegrations a muddle,so long s the rts resupposedtobe fused' ogether,hevarious lementswill llbeequallydegraded, nd eachwillact as a mere cue' to therest.Theprocessof fusion xtends o thespectatorwhogetsthrown nto hemelting ottoo and becomes a passive (suffering)artof the totalwork ofart.Witch-craftf this ortmust ofcourse be fought gainst Solange'Gesamtkunstwerk'edeutet,dafidas Gesamte einAufwaschen st, olangealso Kiinste'verschmelzt'werden ollen,mussendie einzelnenElemente llgleichermafienegradiertwerden, ndem edes nurStichwortbringerurdas andere sein kann. Der SchmelzprozefierfafitenZuschauer,der ebenfalls ingeschmolzenwird und einenpassiven leidenden)

    Teil des Gesamtkunstwerks arstellt. olcheMagie istnatiirlichu bekampfen].BertoldBrecht,AnmerkungurOper AufstiegndFallder tadtMahagonny"nSchriftenumTheater3,ed. WernerHecht Frankfurt:uhrkamp, 967),1010-11.Author's translation.13.Roger Copeland, "MerceCunninghamand the Politics ofPerception,"n What sDance?ReadingsnTheoryndCriticism,d. RogerCopeland and MarshallCohen (Oxford:OxfordUniversity ress,1983),312; "Alles,was Hypnotisierversuchearstellen oil,un-wurdigeRauscheerzeugenmufi, enebelt,mufi ufgegebenwerden."Brecht,AnmerkungzurOper AufstiegndFall der tadtMahagonny,"011.14. Nina Sundell,Rauschenberg/PerformanceCleveland:Cleveland CenterforContem-poraryArt, 984),7.15.Roger Copeland, "A Community fOriginals:Models of Avant-Garde ollabora-tions,"Next WaveFestival atalogue1983),Carson-Brierlyance Library, pecial Collec-tionsand Archives,University f Denver PenroseLibrary, enver;MerceCunningham,TheDancer nd theDance,quoted inHenrySayre,TheObject fPerformance:heAmericanAvant-Gardeince1970 Chicago: University fChicagoPress,1989),108.16.Sayre'sdescription fRauschenberg's combines."Sayre,TheObject fPerformance,104.17.Kostelanetz, Environmental bundance,"175.18. Harald Szeemann,ed.,DerHangzum Gesamtkunstwerk:uropaische topieneit1800(Frankfurt:auerlander, 983).Afascinatingnclusionnthis ollectionsWolfgang ange'sdiscussion of thepop starMadonna as a Gesamtkunstwerk.ange arguesthatMadonna'sfusion f the rts dance,music, cenery) nd above all her use and manipulation fmassmedia constitutes Gesamtkunstwerk.19.Quoted inThomson, Cage and theCollage of Noises."20.WolfgangDomling, "Reuniting he Arts: Notes on theHistoryofan Idea," 19th-centuryMusic18,no. 1 1994):4. "... das Gesamtkunstwerk aredanneinsozialistischesReformwerk." eterRummenholler,Romantikund Gesamtkunstwerk,"n BeitrageurGeschichteerMusikanschauungm19.Jahrhundert,d. Walter almen Regensburg: osse,1965),165.21.BarryMillington,Gesamtkunstwerk"GroveMusicOnline).22. Wagner,"Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft," n RichardWagner dmtliche chriftenundDichtungen,ol. 3,ed. WalterTiemann Leipzig: Breitkopf . Hartel, 1911-14]),60.23. Natalie CrohnSchmitt, JohnCage in a New Key,"PerspectivesfNew Music 20(1981): 99-103.24.Haskins marksCage's turn o concernwith ocial ssues as opposed to musical rob-lemsinhis compositions s earlyas 1958. See Rob Haskins,"'LivingWithinDiscipline':John age's MusicintheContext fAnarchism," aperpresented tthe nnual AmericanMusicological Societymeeting, os Angeles,November2-5,2006.25.Schmitt,John age in a New Key,"99.26.John age,Diary:How to mproveheWorldYouWillOnlyMakeMattersWorse) ontinuedPartThree1967),AGreatBearPamphletNew York: omething lsePress, 967), .

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    HPSCHD, Gesamtkunstwerk,nd Utopia 49527.JosephHaas, "AHappeningwithJohn age/' Chicago ailyNews,May 101969,17.28. Haskins' workonCage andanarchysespecially seful ecause he narrows hewideconglomerationfcontingent eliefs hat re oftenumpedunder the abel "anarchy" oa definitionwithwhichCage would have been comfortable,ased on a readingof theanarchicworks hatCage knew.Anarchy,or age,was notnecessarily political isorder"oronly"absence ofgovernment" ut, ccording oHaskins,bestexplained bytheOxfordEnglish Dictionary's econd definition fthe word: "A theoretical ocial state nwhichthere s no governing ersonorbodyofpersons,buteach individual has absolute iberty(withoutmplication fdisorder)."See Haskins,"LivingwithinDiscipline,"4-5.29.GeorgeWoodcock, AnarchyRevisited,"CommentaryAugust 1968):55-56.30.According oCage, Fullerthought hat he current istribution fgoods betweenthe haves" and the "havenots,"whichwas "nearly ifty-fifty"n1970,wouldbytheyear

    2000 be completely vened out.See JohnCage and Max Nyffeler,ouMust Take GlobalPoint fView: ohn age boutRevolution, elfarendCultural hanges1970), vailable fromhttp://www.beckmesser.de/komponisten/cage/interviewl.html.31 John age and Richard riedman,AConversation ithJohn age,"Pacifica adioAr-chives reservationndAccess roject1969), vailablefrom ttp://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/projects/restoredaudio/index.html.32. See Kostelanetz, Technoanarchism,"n Political ssays rom 959-1998, d. DougPuchowski New York:Autonomedia,1999),256-64.33.Cage was alsoworking na project o set the thunderclap"ections fJames oyce'sFinnegan'sWake a suggestionmade byMcLuhan.Cage wanted to use thecomputer oanalyze thunderclapoundsand thenmodulatevoices to sound likethunderclaps ia thecomputer. age neverfinished hisproject ecause thenecessary echnologywas simplynot available in 1967-68."Sound, Silence,Time,"Newsweek,ec. 25, 1967,50.34. For an excellent nalysisofCage's claim thathisworks re nherentlyheatrical,eeMarjoriePerloff,John age's LivingTheatre,"nAgainst heatre: reative estructionntheModernisttage, d. MartinPuchner nd AlanAckermanNew York:Palgrave,2006),133-48.35. David Shapiro, On Collaboration nArt," nConversing ith age, d. RichardKo-stelanetzNew York:Limelight ditions, 988),105. See Kostelanetz, MiltonBabbitt ndJohn age: The TwoExtremes fAvant-GardeMusic," n nnovative usic(ian)sNew York:Limelight ditions, 989),21-30.36.Jean-Francoisyotard,Answering heQuestion:What s Postmodernism?,"n ThePost-Moderneader,d. CharlesJencks New York: t Martin'sPress,1992),138.37. RolandBarthes, ritical ssays, rans.RichardHoward (Evanston, 11.: orthwesternUniversity ress,1972),26.38. RolandBarthes, /Z, rans.RichardMiller New York:Hill and Wane, 1999),5.39.JohnCage, "Choosing Abundance,"NorthAmerican eview 54,no. 3 (1969): 13;JohnCage, "Lecture on Something," n Silence Hanover,N.H.: WesleyanUniversityPress,1973),136.40.Accordingo ElizabethGrosz, More'sneologisms inguisticallymbiguous, he esultof wodifferentusions rom reek oots: he dverbou 'not' and thenountopos 'place'= no-place.He is also punningon anotherGreekcomposite, utopia,happy/ fortunate,'or good' place." "The Time ofArchitecture,"n Embodied topias:Gender,ocialChange,andtheModernMetropolis,d.Amy Bingaman, iseSanders, ndRebecca Zorach London:Routledge, 002),267.PerhapsMore's ntention as tosuggest hat heperfect ocietywasa myth a "o-place."Marin ntends referenceo thefirst efinition hichhe understandsas "the other'ofany place." LouisMarin, Frontiers fUtopia:Past and Present," riticalInquiry9,no. 3 (1993):411.41.Marin,"Frontiers fUtopia,"414; Phillip Wegner, maginary ommunities:topia,theNation, nd the patialHistories fModernityBerkely:University fCaliforniaPress,2002),xix.

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    496 Heimbecker42. FredricJameson rguedthatthe role of theUtopian s not tobringthe future ntofocus,butrather o make us aware of the imits f ourpresent physical s well as con-ceptual.TheUtopian rtwork ighlightshe imits f our magination. amesonwrote, Itis less revealing o considerUtopiandiscourseas a mode ofnarrative, omparable, ay,withnovel orepic,than t s tograsp t as an object fmeditation,nalogous to theriddlesorkoanofthe variousmystical raditions, r theaporias of classical philosophy,whosefunction s to provokea fruitfulonsciousness of ts own powers,functions,ims andstructuralimits." ee Fredric ameson,Review: Of slands and Trenches:Naturalizationand theProduction fUtopianDiscourse"Diacritics ,No. 2 (1977):11.43. The creation fmeaning nthis ase lies notwith he omposerwhopresents workto theaudience,but rather n an interaction etweencomposer and audience withincontext. ee the andmark ssayonthis opic,RolandBarthes, The DeathoftheAuthor,"

    inImage,Music,Text,d. StephenHeath (New York:Hill,1977),142-^8.44.VirginiaWoolf, etween heActs New York:Harcourt, 969),188;Woolf, acob's oom(New York:Harcourt, 959),68-69.45.Jill olan, Utopia nPerformance:inding ope t theTheaterAnnArbor:UniversityofMichiganPress,2005),10.46. ErrolHaun, interview v authorGreelev, olo., Mav 31,2007.47.CharlesHamm,PuttingopularMusic n tsPlace Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1995),93.48.John age and EricMottram,The Pleasure ofChaos," Spanner ,no. 1 (1974):2-3.49.Dolan, Utovia nPerformance,-8.50.QuotedinChris hultis, ALivingOxymoron:NormanO. Brown'sCriticismfJohnCage," PerspectivesfNew Music44,no. 2 (2006):71.51.TheodorAdorno,Aesthetic heory,rans.C. Lenhardt London: Routledge,1986),235;YvonneRainer, Looking MyselfntheMouth,"October7 (1981):71.52. "Die Kunstund ihre nstitute . .konnen omitdie Vorlaufer nd Muster llerkunft-

    igenGemeindeinstitutionenerden,derGeist,der eine kunstlerische orperschafturErreichunghreswahrenZweckesverbindet, urde sich n ederanderngesellschaftlichenVereinigung iedergewinnenassen,die sich inenbestimmten enschenwurdigenweckstellt;denn eben all' unserzukunftiges esellschaftliches ebaren soil und kann,wennwirdas Richtige rreichen,urreinkustlerischer aturnoch sein." RichardWagner,DieKunstund dieRevolution,"n RichardWagneramtlichechriftenndDichtungen,d.WalterHemann (Leipzig: Breitkopf. Hartel, 1911-14]), 0. Author's translation.53.Millington,Gesamtkunstwerk";ohn age, "Overpopulation ndArt,"nJohnage:ComposednAmerica,d. MarjoriePerloffnd CharlesJunkermanChicago: UniversityfChicago,1994),23.54.Copeland, "A Community fOriginals,"10.55. PeterGay,The NakedHeart,vol. 4, TheBourgeois xperience ictoria o Freud NewYork:W. W.Norton, 995),35.56. KarinBauer, Adorno'sWagner:History nd thePotential ftheArtwork," ulturalCritique0 (2005):72.57.WilliamWeber, Wagner,Wagnerism,nd Musical Idealism," n Wagnerismn Eu-ropean ulture ndPolitics,d. David C. Large and William Weber Ithaca,N.Y.: CornellUniversity ress,1984),29.58. Caee and Nvffeler.ouMust Take Global oint fView.59. Ibid.60.What s ironic s thatCage did appearon television few imes.One notable ppear-ancewas a performancef "WaterWalk" for hepopularshowI'veGot SecretnJanuary1960. Thisvideo is now widelyavailable on the nternet.61. AnnieGleason,"Integration reatesMore DiverseCampus atU. Illinois, Daily I-lini,Jan. 9,2004. ncidentally, leason reported hat hepercentage f black students ncampus in2004 was 6 percent.

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    HPSCHD, Gesamtkunstwerk,nd Utopia 49762. StanLevy, AwardPresentationsrom heAnnualMeeting,April18,2004: ntroduc-toryRemarksbyStanLevy in Presenting he VictorJ. toneAwardforLifetime erviceto ClarenceShelley,"TheACLU News:American ivilLiberties nion f llinois, hampaignCounty hapter4,no.2 (2004);Gleason,"Integration reatesMore DiverseCampus atU.Illinois."63.Levy, Award Presentations rom heAnnualMeeting."According o David Eisen-man,most ofthedamage was caused bynonstudentswho saw theprotest s an oppor-tunity ogain access to the studentunion fromwhichtheywereregularly urned wayby campus police.Eisenman claimedthat hedamage totaled bout$2,000. nterview yauthor, hampaign,111.,uly ,2007.64. "The Universities reAsking ort," ditorial, hicago ribune,ept.11,1968;Gleason,"IntegrationreatesMore DiverseCampusatU. Illinois";JoyAnnWilliamson, lack ower

    onCampus:TheUniversityf llinois, 965-1975 Urbana:Universityf llinoisPress, 003);Michael Fultz,"Black Power on Campus: The University f llinois. (Book Reviews),"JournalfAfrican merican istory2004):195-96.65.Cage and Nyffeler,ouMust Take Global oint fView.66. See Williamson,BlackPower nCampus, 5.According oWilliamson, ower,n thesensethatCage seemedto understand t, s not central o the dea of Black Power:"BlackPower became a widely popular ideology. t includedpolitical, conomic, ultural, ndpsychological omponents. lackpolitical owermeantBlackpoliceofficers,ax ssessors,mayors, nd legislators. lack economicpowermeant qualityofthe tandard f iving fAfrican- mericans nd thedevelopment fcommunitynstitutions. lack cultural owermeant elf-determinationnd self-definition."67. David Patterson,-mailstoauthor, ulv 0and 17,2007.68.John age, EmptyWordsMiddletown, T:WesleyanUniversity ress, 979),183-84.69.HenryFlint, Cage and Fluxus," nWritingsboutJohn age, d. RichardKostelanetz(AnnArbor:UniversityfMichiganPress,1993),279.70.Cage and Friedman, A ConversationwithJohn age"; EricaMunk,OnlyConnect:TheLivingTheatrend itsAudiencesAnnArbor:University fMichiganPress,2006),53.Forexample,a LivingTheaterperformance as presented t the Roundhouse inJuly f1967 longside ectures yMarcuse, readingofmantras yAllanGinsberg,nd a call forBlackpowerfrom tokely armichael. ee MalcolmMiles,"TheEndofUtopia: mminentand ImmanentLiberation," pacesofUtopia:An Electronicournal (2006): 105,availablefrom ttp: /ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ftcheiros/3065.pdf71.GeorgeLewis, "ImprovisedMusic after 950:Afrologicalnd EurologicalPerspec-tives"BlackMusic Research ournal 6,no. 1 (1996):98.72.Grosz,"The Time ofArchitecture,"69;PeterStillman, RecentStudies nthe His-tory fUtopian Thought Book Review),"Utopian tudies ,no. 1 (1990):107. See alsoJ.C.Davis,Utopiand thedeal ociety: Study f nglish topianWriting,516-1700(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity ress,1981).According oDavis,Utopia salwaystotalitarian:Allideal societies must solve theproblemofrelating heexisting nd changing supply ofsatisfactions,ome of which arebynature imited nsupplyto thewantsofa heteogenialgroup, he desiresof whichwillbe, insome respects, nlimited" 19).73.Grosz,"The Time ofArchitecture,"72-73.74.Rainer, Looking Myself ntheMouth,"69-70.75.John age, "The Future f Music" inEmptyWords,84.76.RobHaskins, n"'Livingwithin iscipline," ttemptedoclarify age's understand-

    ingofanarchyby pointing utthat Classic anarchistic hought escribesthe mportantdistinction etween ivingwithindisciplineand livingunderdiscipline. n theformer,people agree upon the terms f thediscipline nd act n accord with t, ustas theydo intheMusicircus.nthe atter, articipants ave little o no agency ntheexact nature f thedisciplinary ystem nderwhich hey bide;they re coerced ocomply hroughhe hreatof surveillance nd punishment."However,theuniversity etting hathosted HPSCHD

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    498 Heimbeckerin 1969,one mayargue,was a setting fstrictlyoded behavior, nwhich the threat fsurveillance nd punishmentwas always present.77.Quoted inShultis,ALivingOxymoron,"0.Rainer,LookingMyselfntheMouth,"67.78. AntoninArtaud, uthor f TheTheaternd tsDouble, rans.MaryCaroline Richards(New York:GrovePress, 958), riginally e Thedtret onDouble 1938).Cage was familiarwiththis work to which he was introducedbyDavid Tudor and MC Richards t BlackMountainCollege.Artaudcontrasts heEuropeanidea ofart,which s passive,disinter-ested, nert,withwhathe calls "authentic" ultureswhose art s interested,magical, ndwhich"operatesbyexaltation nd force" 10).79.Gilbert hase, "Toward a Total Musical Theatre,"Arts nSociety,no. 1 (1969):27.80.Copeland, "A Communitv fOriginals,"10.

    81. Daniel Bell,TheCultural ontradictionsfCapitalismNew York:BasicBooks,1976),51.82. AndreasHuyssen, MappingthePostmodern,"n ThePost-Moderneader,d.Jencks,47.