School of Art exhibition, symposium
celebrates work, friendship of Cage, Fuller

The names John Cage and Buckminster Fuller are not often heard in the same sentence.

Cage, the experimental composer, made chance the center of his musical practice, reflecting his deeply held Zen Buddhist beliefs. Fuller, the creator of the Geodesic Dome, among many other inventions, and known widely and affectionately as Bucky, was equally convinced of the power of technology to promote social change.

Polymaths in production, the two have more commonly been seen as representative of competing schemes of historical understanding. Yet in life they became fast friends after meeting first in 1948 at the progressive Black Mountain College in Asheville, N.C., and remained so until Fuller’s death in 1983 at the age of 87.

NIU’s School of Art presents “Geodesic Mathematics and Random Chaos: John Cage and Buckminster Fuller,” an exhibition, interdisciplinary symposium and gala concert celebrating the work and friendship of this acclaimed pair of 20th century innovators.

The exhibition, curated by Olson Gallery Coordinator Peter Van Ael from the collection of Cincinnati gallery owner Carl Solway, will open Monday, Aug. 28, at the Jack Olson Gallery of the School of Art and continue through Friday Sept. 29.

The symposium, organized by art history professor Barbara Jaffee, is a daylong event supported in part by the Art History Division’s 2006-2007 Elizabeth Allen Visiting Scholars Series. It will convene in several locations Saturday, Sept. 16, in the NIU Music Building and feature such luminaries as Allegra Fuller Snyder, Fuller’s only child, and a gala evening concert with illustrated remarks by renowned musician and Cage collaborator, Larry Austin.

For more information and to register, visit www.vpa.niu.edu/events/symposium.html.

Collaboration was the watchword of the time and the place at Black Mountain.

Not only was interdisciplinary work encouraged there, but the year 1948 was the height of grassroots movements toward world federalism, coming just prior to the onset of Cold War politics.

Fuller recently had patented his Dymaxion Map, a notably distortion-free world projection with the further advantage of emphasizing continental interconnectedness (the so-called “one-island, one-ocean world”). Cage was moved by his exposure to Fuller’s ideas to write his 1965 epic, “Diary: How to Improve the World: You Will Only Make Matters Worse.”

Concerned that his “Diary” would be perceived as incompatible with Fuller’s vision, Cage even sought his friend’s advice before publishing. Fuller hastened to assure that it was his intent to create a world in which it would be safe for all to put into practice Cage’s philosophy of purposeless play.

NIU’s exhibition and symposium are perhaps the first time that the friendship, its contexts and its effects have been subject to scholarly exploration. Together, they represent a unique opportunity to reconsider the ways mid-20th century modernism is understood. The exhibition will feature prints and kinetic sculpture by Fuller and Cage’s plexigram series, “Not Wanting to Say Anything about Marcel.”

The Jack Olson Gallery is located in Room 200 of the Visual Arts Building and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. A reception for the exhibition is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, and will include a talk by Carl Solway of the Cincinnati-based Carl Solway Gallery.

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Additional programming for the Sept. 16 symposium includes talks by historian Mary Emma Harris, director of the Black Mountain College Project, and Richard Kostelanetz, artist, cultural historian and Cage biographer; a performance of Cage’s “Cartridge Music” by IMMArts, a collective of multimedia artists and technology experts including NIU alumni and current students; and a round-table discussion featuring all participants.

Seating for the symposium is limited and requires advance registration.

A fee of $15 for students and $35 for the general public includes all events, plus an exhibition brochure, symposium packet, morning refreshments and lunch. Registrants at the $35 level are invited to attend a special wine-and-cheese reception in the gallery on the day of the symposium and will receive documentation of the symposium proceedings. There is a $5 processing fee for all registrations.

Tickets for the Austin concert will be available separately on site 30 minutes prior to doors opening. Prices are $5 for students/seniors and $10 for general public. Only cash is accepted.

8-21-06