Drawing for Changes and Disappearances No. 33 1979 - 1982

John Cage made this drawing, one of his “Changes and Disappearances” series, using pencil on paper. Cage was fascinated by the relationship between chance and order, a concern that grew out of his study of Zen Buddhism in postwar New York. This interest is evident here, in what looks like a set of instructions as much as an aesthetic object. We can see lines, numbers, and calculations, all suggesting a system or a code. Cage’s score-like drawings were related to his musical compositions that often employed aleatoric, or chance-based, procedures. Cage was trying to relinquish authorial control in both his music and visual art by introducing randomness. The drawing asks us to question the role of the artist and the value of intention in the creative process. If you want to delve deeper, look into Cage's writings and musical scores. By exploring the social and intellectual context of his work, we can better understand Cage's radical approach to art-making.