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ryoanji
"Ryoanji is a temple belonging to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect, famous for its 'karesansui' or rock garden. 30 m wide and 10 m deep, the garden contains 15 rocks arranged on the surface of white pebbles in such a manner that visitors can see only 14 of them at once, from whichever angle the garden is viewed. Only when you attain spiritual enlightment as a result of deep Zen meditation, can you see the last invisible stone with your mind's eye."
In 1982, Cage writes music for oboist James Ostryniec, based on his Ryoanji-inspired drawings of rock gardens. (Some of these drawings contain 225 stones (15 x 15) and others contain 3,375 (15 x 15 x 15).)
Cage bases the melodic line on the stones:
"Using two [sheets of paper] I made a 'garden' of sounds, tracing parts of the perimeters of the same stones I had used for the drawings and etchings. I was writing a music of glissandi. [If] more lines than one were drawn in the same vertical space, I distinguished between sound systems, taking four as a maximum."
—and the accompaniment on the raked sand:
"For the accompaniment ... I made a percussion part having a single complex of unspecified sounds played in unison, the icti chance-distriubted in meteres of twelve, thirteen, fourteen or fifteen. I didn't want the mind to be able to analyze rhythmic patterns."
Now, Art in General is calling for sound art for Rock's Role (After Ryoanji), a group exhibition of sound works by artists responding to Cage's Ryoanji pieces.
"Rock's Role (After Ryoanji) will [break] contributions into 'continuous' and 'discrete' elements corresponding to the stones or the raked sand of the garden. In the exhibition, continuous elements will be mixed and overlapped; discrete elements will be played in succession. We hope for contributions employing sounds and sound-making means of all kinds. The only requirement is that contributions be able to co-exist with any other sounds in the exhibition. ... continuous elements should be a series of individual tracks suitable for 'shuffle play,' with no single track exceeding four minutes in duration. Discrete elements should take the form of a single long track ranging from 15 minutes to an hour. ... Throughout the exhibition, these arrangements will be played in succession together with chance-determined arrangements."
Deadline: September 27.
Thanks to Kristina DzWright and Dasha Dakleva for the heads-up.
Labels: music_commentary |
