One11 and 103

1992, 94 min, b&w, sound, 16 mm film on video

In this double work, abstractions of light travel across and into the sounds and space created by artist and composer John Cage. While intended as a unified work, the piece must also be considered as a joining of two discrete works, each of which stands on its own. One11 is a composition "for solo camera man." Cage writes: "One11 is a film without subject. There is light but no persons, no things, no ideas about repetition and variation. It is meaningless activity which is nonetheless communicative, like light itself, escaping our attention as communication because it has no content to restrict its transforming and informing power." Of 103, Cage writes: "103 is an orchestral work. It is divided into seventeen parts. The lengths of the seventeen parts are the same for all the strings and the percussion. The woodwinds and the brass follow another plan... Following chance operations, the number of wind instruments changes for each of the seventeen parts." When these two works are played together, the title becomes One11 and 103. (The 11 must be written as superscript, and the full title must be italicized.) The piece was premiered in this manner in 1992 at the Cologne Philharmonie, by the Radio and Symphony Orchestra of the WDR. This video version was supervised by Cage.

Director of Photography: Van Theodore Carson. Director: Henning Lohner. Editor: Bernadine Colish. Writer/Composer: John Cage.

 
 

This is a video transfer of a work initially shot on film. This must be shown as a projection in a darkened room with an excellent sound system and seating provided.
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