273 Relics for John Cage

273 RELICS FOR JOHN CAGE

273 RELICS FOR JOHN CAGE (A LIKENESS IS AN AID TO MEMORY) PAUL SOULELLIS 2011

TEXTS ONE 8 a way that the subject is stimulated from himself and from the TWO 23—(Virgo) tell about the poisonous I 26—shaped and with margin incurved for 30—well 31—I’ve gotten that a lot 33—Greek words 35—produced impresses a sort of likeness of the precept just as 43—that one must consider the affection which 47—this is driving it and so 51—or on the wood THREE 55—standing closely 58—though the stimulus or seal were applied to running 61— 70—but when one recovers some previous knowledge or 75—234crispa (galera) 88—custom now takes the place of nature fast-forward to this 90—owing to chance 101—vermilion edged gills 105—the 107—tuberculose 113—and that piperatus 114—experience that which customarily precedes the one which we

FOUR 121—obvious that one must consider the 134—I liked these thirds least 150—yeah or a mental picture use of the fact that the 153—so this is the collection basket when we recollect 162—chapter xiv rain in July 166—the favorite host of this species is an apple tree small 167—is 172—for at any moment the telephone may ring or an 178—wherever you want 183—yeah 188—about the size 201—of contemplation or a 207— 208—the colors 211—um 213—this case although we make no use 217—where you want (hygrophorus) 219—I must say I still feel this 232—pressed um I don’t FIVE 234—three inches long SIX 244—generally speaking 246—this is driving it 248—contemplation in itself and as a mental picture of 250—experienced something of the sort before 252—(consider) it in itself 256—time so I just had 257—but 262— 269—stem equal 270—hymenula punctiformis

IMAGES ONE 3, 4, 5, 7 TWO 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 24, 27, 28, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 46, 52, 53, 54 THREE 56, 57, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 106, 109, 111, 112, 115, 118, 119, 120 FOUR 121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151, 152, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 168, 171, 173, 176, 177, 179, 181, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 195, 197, 199, 202, 203, 205, 206, 209, 210, 212, 214, 215, 218, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 228, 229, 230, 231, 233 FIVE SIX 235, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241, 243, 247, 249, 251, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260, 265, 267, 268, 271, 272

A SERIES OF ACTIONS PHOTOGRAPH

On August 22, 2011, I drove to The John Cage Trust at Bard College.

I had a morning appointment with Laura Kuhn, founding trustee and ongoing executive director. To prepare for the meeting, I asked Laura to think of a single item from the archive. Something that John Cage knew of in his life. I asked her not to reveal her selection to me until we met in person. When I arrived, she retrieved the thing; she had chosen John Cage’s mushroom collecting basket. I took a single photograph.

PIXELS

273 Relics for John Cage begins with the moment I captured the 12-megapixel image of the basket. Each picture element (pixel) in the digital photograph references its source (in this case, significant archival material). If one ascribes meaning to the photograph, then each of its 12 million pixels carries with it some fraction of that significance. Every pixel inherits the memory of its origin. Every pixel, a relic. At the scale of the close zoom, the relics reveal pure color.

These immersive color fields link to lost memory, but also point (paint) to future landscapes. They open and vibrate with possibility. Latent, unconscious, phantom imagery, embedded in the relics. Every pixel, a photograph. Using chance operations, I generated 160 pixel extractions from the photograph of the mushroom basket.

TEXTS

I chose four texts to accompany the photographic relics.

Word extractions were selected and combined using chance operations.

The texts: Aristotle’s On Memory and Recollection (350 B.C.); John Cage’s “Lecture on Nothing” (published in Silence: Lectures and Writings, 1961); M.E. Hard’s The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise (1908); and fragments of my conversation with Laura Kuhn and her assistant, recorded on August 22, 2011 at The John Cage Trust.

52 text-based relics were generated.

BOOK

Each second of time in John Cage’s 4'33" (1952) becomes a page in the book. This is the structure I inherited. Each page, a reliquary.

273 operations. 273 openings. 273 opportunities. Using chance operations, I generated a score to design the book. The score determined chapter breaks, contents for each page (text, image or blank relic) and layout.

Each relic is numbered.

PERFORMANCE

Every reading of 273 Relics for John Cage is a performance.

Using chance operations, select a set of pages. Determine a fixed duration for the reading of each page, not less than one minute and no more than 4 minutes, 33 seconds. Whether text, image or blank, each page in the set is performed, in any order. Speak the text, speak nothing or display images, or perform any combination of these actions, depending on the content of the particular page.

The performance may be private or public.

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a way that the subject is stimulated from himself and from the stimuli which he contains within him does it matter which and it’s too bad for a half an hour basting with butter and water and serve with the gravy which comes from them that a high sound is different from a low sound even when both are called by the same letter the stem is short thick solid in young specimens hollow in older specimens

TWO

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â™? (Virgo) tell about the poisonous I here may vex more and more we and from OK

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shaped and with margin incurved for the stimulus produced impresses a sort of likeness of the precept just as when men seal with signet rings really really forked and with some short ones intermixed frequently tinged with red at the edge roll of the volva and the upper edge of this presenting the appearance of having been served at the top like the rolled edge of a garment or buskin now mental image related as a likeness to that of which it is an image it won’t have a in memory one may say that none of the known animals can recollect except man and learning afresh lies that in the former one will be able in some way to move on by his own effort to the term next after the starting-point this second part is about structure our task is now to discuss memory and remembering of the juice

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well the first thing that comes to mind uhh maybe I’ll photograph the photograph you look a little bit like you don’t know that I look at you (becoming) paler toward the base color obscure in age this is a copy

alright

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I’ve gotten that a lot

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Greek words meaning youth and fringed and short hairy stem will distinguish it from all other tree fungi (pleasure) alright was that I’d (striate)— tuberculate on the margin which is at first incurved OK good I found only a few specimens in Haynes’ Hollow on to d yeah yeah yeah irritating feeling for it and we’re trying to be really quiet about this included in this order

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produced impresses a sort of likeness of the precept just as when men seal with signet rings well other animals he chooses memory belongs to that part of the soul to which imagination belongs Laura equally if they are not there) but one thinks of them by a proportionate mental impulse we went back and forth upon or close to I’m Paul Soulellis he asked me how I would perform it

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that one must consider the affection which is produced by sensation in the soul and in that part of the body which contains the soul—the affection the lasting state of which we call memory— as a kind of picture

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this is driving it and so who have good memories are not the same as those who recollect quickly we were nowhere corticium oakesii sometimes lacunose frequently

attenuated upward at first stuffed no I

didn’t know what it is now I know in this way is what one remembers the present affection or the original from which it rose maybe I’ll photograph the photograph um

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or on the wood but it’s probably got mold on it perceived or suffered all along he passes on to d yeah collected on Johnson’s Island Sandusky Ohio and photographed by Dr.

Kellerman

herculea is so called from its large size what’s the story behind this being the home have called it form (magnitude) still puts a finite magnitude before his eyes though he does not think of it as such wounds and bruises are apt to assume brownish red hues

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THREE

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standing closely side by side but we have rabbits and raccoons and all sorts of things out there chapter iv experience the next oh oh that I am getting nowhere to be no truth no good in anything big in society reflexed white villous below

so I just thought figure 470 learns or receives a sense impression one does not recover any memory (for none has gone before) nor does one acquire it for the first time let it remain in the basket

over night and you will plainly see that the gills are turning green

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though the stimulus or seal were applied to running water his love of nature came out of Black Mountain yes and the impulse follows a straight course between recollecting and learning afresh lies that in the former one will be able in some way to move on by his own

effort to the term next after the starting-point good how are you that the magnitude of a triangle is a finite quantity yet we draw it as having a finite magnitude furrowed and sometimes split pale-yellowish or becoming brownish tan soon decaying the present yes hence this is what’s driving it object appears as a mere thought but the other being (as in the former case) a likeness is an aid to memory

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but when one recovers some previous knowledge or sensation or experience the continuing state of which we described before as

memory then this process is recollection of one of the aforesaid objects

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234crispa (galera) ingrata means unpleasant which is an object of conjecture or expectation (there might even be a science of expectation as some say there is of divination) belong as it does to many other animals another way to do this would be to show up in the

archives limp remember the absent fact which we do not

perceive chapter ii

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custom now takes the place of nature fast-forward to this project went here or here persists even when they have abandoned the attempt to recollect especially in the case of the melancholic (bruised) I first found this species in Whinnery’s woods Salem Ohio I’m Paul Soulellis object appears as a mere thought but the other being (as in the former case) a likeness is an aid to memory without being aware of it perhaps of all the intervals I liked these thirds least

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owing to chance so still more in matters of habit to which the term natural does not belong in the same sense white or yellowish bow-shaped decurrent and

connected by vein-like folds

perceiving the affection remember the absent fact which we do not perceive if I let you into the building

abundant threads over the surface

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vermilion edged gills point to start from nor is there a volva well the first thing that comes to mind comptulus means beautified or luxuriously decked using only three tones “I felt limited� figure 358 outline of the volva the pileus and the embryo stem

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the former in dark stem and uneven pileus

differs from the latter in being subviscid

with even stem and pileus not umbonate and much more irregular and differs from both in subcostate gills

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tuberculose

obsoletely zoned pulverulent or smooth faculty it would not belong as it does to many other animals

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and that piperatus as this species surrounded it really really

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experience that which customarily precedes the one which we require that’s exactly right

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FOUR

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obvious that one must consider the affection which is produced by sensation in the soul and in that part of the body which contains the soul—the affection the lasting state of which we call memory—as a kind of picture memories are not the same as those who are good at recollecting

I have gotten that when we want to remember a name we remember one rather like it but fail to enunciate the one we want ninth unit of the fourth large part of this talk no I’m going to

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I liked these thirds least and so

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yeah or a mental picture use of the fact that the magnitude of a triangle is a finite quantity yet we draw it as having a finite magnitude conscious of time can be said to remember and they do so with that part which is conscious of time

she revealed it 46 was found in Haynes’ Hollow and photographed

by Dr. Kellerman

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so this is the collection basket when we recollect then we re-experience one of our former impulses until at last we experience that which customarily precedes the one which we require and gills slightly attached to the stem mushrooms

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chapter xiv rain in July August and September noises too had been discriminated against cushion-formed do this himself but only through another agency he no longer remembers could not remember anything in its absence

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the favorite host of this species is an apple tree small pointed scales which are usually larger and more numerous at the disk fifth unit of the fourth large part of this talk is the same plant as this these experiences are sometimes identical and sometimes

simultaneous with those of what we seek and sometimes form a part of them time as the original affection spores striate on the margin sometimes having margin upturned violet to rose round 7–10¾ the one which we require the young specimen can be recognized by the whole plant’s being of a vivid lemon-yellow except the surface of the cap but Merce Cunningham

are you happy with it?

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is

extremely fibrous and the tricholoma is

distinguished by its notched gills his love of nature came out of Black Mountain when men throw stones it no longer lies in their power to stop them so the man who is employed in recollecting and search sets in

motion a bodily part in which the affection resides memory then implies lapse of time that one did so and so the day before yesterday and sometimes with an exact

estimate difference between recollecting and learning afresh lies that in the former one will be able in some way to move on by his own effort to the next term after the starting-point what part of us it pertains that it pertains to the primary sense-faculty i.e. that with which we perceive time memory

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for at any moment the telephone may ring or an

airplane come down in a vacant lot I would say be cautious some men show when in spite of great concentration they cannot remember and which persists even when they abandon the attempt to recollect especially in the case of the melancholic common

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wherever you want relating to the fact takes place apart from that relating to the time or vice versa one does not remember 118 velutipes (spathularia) acute

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yeah

yeah yeah but at any moment an idea may come along tinged with yellow

reason why we sometimes recollect and sometimes do not although starting from the same point is that it is possible to travel from the same starting-point to more than one destination

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about the size of a quail’s egg tricholoma equestre of the series are far apart but only when they are near together

great great (present) affection or the original from which it arose to imagine fg he keeps be in mind but instead of h:i he thinks k:l feel lonely an installation no no no I understand shall we have one later?

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of contemplation or a mental picture but in so far as we consider it in relation to something else e.g. as a likeness it is also an aid to memory a distance by stretching out to them as some think that vision operates (for the mind will think of them equally if they are not there) but one thinks of them by a proportionate mental impulse need it

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the colors as it is it does not belong to all because they have not all a consciousness of time

generally speaking the slow-witted have better memories but the quick-witted and those who learn easily are better at recollecting

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um I don’t

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this case although we make no use of the fact that the magnitude of a triangle is a

finite quantity yet we draw it as having a finite magnitude belong as it does to many other animals recollection occur when one impulse naturally

succeeds another now if the sequence is necessary it is plain that whoever experiences one impulse will also experience the next came out of great great polyporus leucomelas experienced after that is relatively small reintroduction of something which existed in us before granted that one possesses a faculty by which to distinguish great and lesser time (intellectual) there was somebody who was just here who was loading

which will continue

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wherever you want (hygrophorus)

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I must say I still feel this way but something is happening

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pressed um I don’t good how are you the other thing h to i ok good plants

sent me from Massachusetts which seem to be

much smaller than our plants natural size experiences in the present the stem is stuffed with advancing age hollow equal floccose white ringed base bulbous volva closely embracing the stem with its free margin ring forming a broad collar reflexed 364 fennicum (hebeloma) (moment)

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three inches long stuffed firm equal

pale apex

pruinose veil very

fugacious power is that just as when men throw stones it no longer lies in their power to stop them so the man who is employed in recollecting and search sets in motion a bodily part in which the affection resides thinking of a series which may be represented by the letters abcdefgh and more it is not irritating (and then more and more and slowly) we have several

SIX

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generally speaking it is when other impulses such as we have mentioned have first been aroused that the particular impulse follows we have several that anyone can they have abandoned the attempt to recollect

especially in the case of the melancholic easily separating margin involute often at first tomentose old forms often repand or wavy

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this is driving it grows among leaves in mixed woods during wet weather in his book “If the collector gets puzzled as he will over one or all of these species because no description fits he can whet his patience and his appetite by calling it H. perplexum and graciously eating it” mushrooms and I’ll come back hopefully I’m Paul Soulellis simultaneous with those of what we seek and sometimes form a part of them

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contemplation in itself and as a mental picture of

something else personatum or pleaurotus ostreatus but many other varieties will answer well movements in the mind

so you might see

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experienced something of the sort before and the process is a kind of search would shoot me generous courtesy of his esteemed friends many impulses until at last he initiates one such that it will lead to the object of his search memory and remembering

what it is why it occurs and to what part of the soul this affection and that of recollection belongs

from that relating to the time or vice versa one does not remember without life is dead our lips way in which men try to recollect and the way in which they recollect even if they do not try to when one impulse follows another last year when I talked here I made a short talk

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(consider) it in itself it is an object of contemplation or a mental picture but in so far as we consider it in relation to something else e.g. as a

likeness it is also an aid to memory yeah smokey brown you know I can’t let you into the building none has gone before nor does one acquire it for the first time I’m just fine

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time so I just had I just had (beautiful) plant point in the second point of view we are just passing the halfway point in the second large part (bulbous) rooting beyond the bulb emarginate beings which are capable of opinion and thought but also in some other animals Kuhn’s blog it is found in woods or clearings on dead logs or on standing dead trees projecting color

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but copia plenty (piece) may be tried and September yes T. sejunctum in the latter having pure white gills and a more slender stem they made the decision ground in damp woods mycologist we have several

(Dr. Kellerman)

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stem equal or slightly tapering upward solid bulbous whitish the veil either membraneous or webby white commonly adhering in fragments to the margin of the pileus we went back and forth this happens when one regards as a likeness what is not a likeness

hymenula punctiformis

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273 RELICS FOR JOHN CAGE PUBLISHED ON THE OCCASION OF

ReViewing Black Mountain College 3 John Cage’s Circle of Influence Asheville, North Carolina October 7–9, 2011 THANKS TO

The John Cage Trust Laura Kuhn, Executive Director TYPOGRAPHY

Galaxie Polaris (Chester Jenkins, 2004) Starling (William Starling Burgess, 1904) PRINTED BY

Edition One Books Berkeley, CA PUBLISHED BY

Paul Soulellis, New York Soulellis.com ISBN-13: 978-0-9840052-0-8

Copyright © 2011 by Paul Soulellis All Rights Reserved