{"id":64050,"date":"2018-03-07T02:38:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T07:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?p=64050"},"modified":"2018-03-07T18:15:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T23:15:51","slug":"wonderful-conversation-between-laurie-anderson-and-john-cage-long-ago-two-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2018\/03\/07\/wonderful-conversation-between-laurie-anderson-and-john-cage-long-ago-two-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurie Anderson and John Cage’s Wonderful Conversation Long Ago (Two Heroes!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Artists’ Books, Multiples and Editions<\/a> we found this wonderful photo with the notation Two Heroes: John Cage & Laurie Anderson<\/em>. Ours too! A digital walkabout took us to the source: a 1992 edition of Tricycle<\/a>, the great Buddhist magazine. In Taking Chances<\/a>, Anderson interviews Cage, then 80 years old. Here are some catalytic bits:<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0<\/strong>You seem like such a hopeful person, do you think human beings are somehow getting better?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

C:<\/strong>\u00a0What can we say but yes. There\u2019s no other answer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0To go on? To be able to go on?<\/em><\/p>\n

C:<\/b>\u00a0Not to be\u00a0able<\/em>\u00a0to go on, but to go on<\/strong>. As D.T. Suzuki said once, \u201c<\/em>There seems to be a tendency toward the good.\u201d<\/em> Isn\u2019t that beautiful?<\/strong> There seems to be a tendency toward the good. He never explained what he meant. And we never asked him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

A:\u00a0<\/strong>How has the response to your work changed over the years?<\/em><\/p>\n

C:\u00a0<\/strong>Well, I don\u2019t have to persuade people to be interested. So many people are interested now that it keeps me from continuing really. I asked a former assistant a few days ago how I should behave about my mail that is so extensive and takes so much time to answer? If I don\u2019t answer it honorably, I mean to say, paying attention to it, then I\u2019m not being very Buddhist. It seems to me I have to give as much honor to one letter as to another. Or at least I should pay attention to all the things that happen.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0<\/strong>What did you decide to do about it?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

C:<\/strong>\u00a0To consider that one function in life is to answer the mail<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0But it could take the whole day.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

C:\u00a0<\/strong>But you see, in the meanwhile, I\u2019ve found a way of writing music which is very fast. So that if we take all things as though they were Buddha, they\u2019re not to be sneezed at but they\u2019re to be enjoyed and honored.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0But this is a huge challenge.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

C:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s a great challenge. The telephone, for instance, is not just a telephone. It\u2019s as if it were Creation calling or Buddha calling. You don\u2019t know who\u2019s on the other end of the line.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0For me, being in a political group, particularly a women\u2019s group, is sort of like answering mail. I feel that I should do this\u2014I should be there.<\/em><\/p>\n

C:<\/strong>\u00a0It gives you a sense of responsibility.<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/em><\/p>\n

C:<\/strong>\u00a0But your real responsibility is the one that you discover. However you work. Your best work is what you yourself discover.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

…Your real responsibility is the one that you discover. However you work. Your best work is what you yourself discover.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Marion Ettlinger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read the entire conversation here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A digital walkabout took us a 1992 edition of Tricycle, the great Buddhist magazine, where Laurie Anderson interviews Cage, then 80 years old. Here are some catalytic bits:<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[88,6549,780],"tags":[11461,11459,6939,10402,11462,11460,11458],"yoast_head":"\nLaurie Anderson and John Cage's Wonderful Conversation Long Ago (Two Heroes!) - Improvised Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A digital walkabout took us a 1992 edition of Tricycle, the great Buddhist magazine, where Laurie Anderson interviews Cage, then 80 years old. 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