John Cage: Catalogue Raisonne of Visual Art Works Vol. I - Ryoanji

This volume is the first in a series devoted to the visual art of the composer John Cage. In this first installment, we have the complete "Ryoanji" drawings, done by Cage from 1983 until his death in 1992. These drawings consist entirely of tracings of small stones in various pencils (17 different pencils from very hard to very soft) on Japanese handmade paper. The results are understated, elegant, delicate, and very beautiful. Sometimes the 15 stones are traced only once, while in most of the drawings the number of times the stones are traced is multiplied, creating a whirl of stone tracings, mostly in the lower half of the paper.Along with the full-page plates of these works this volume also includes several essays detailing the genesis of the drawings and how Cage went about making them, with photos of the pencils and rocks he used. The essays are very well written and help cast light on the processes (chance operations) that Cage used to create these, and all of his artworks.The book is very beautifully laid out, printed and bound, and thus provide a superb record of these poetic and remarkable artworks. Every devotee of Cage (especially of his visual art) will want to have this volume in their library, as we await the further volumes in the series dedicated to recording his complete visual arts. Cage made many prints, drawings, and watercolors in the last decade or so of his life, and it is very welcome news to learn that these works will be published eventually. All in all a first-rate production.

Gut!

Ce livre est un peu cher même si nous payons ce que représente John Cage et ses dessins au Japon!Je n'ai pas encore vu autre qu'une seule photographie ! ce sont les dessins , peintures qui sont montrés ! merci