cage influences pt 4

Barnett Newman: Concorde, 1949

 

Newman shares many characteristics with Rothko: neat, clean lines separating two or three colors in several shades.

Mark Rothko - White Center (1950)

Rothko: No. 3/No. 13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange), 1949

Going though many styles, including expressionism and surrealism, Rothko in his mature style "multiform" style is my favorite of this school. Something about his use of bright colors and hazy blends gives a feel of energized ecstasy. The fields seem to levitate like different oils in a bottle, mingling uncomfortably but unable to mix.

 These artists each have their own style, but together they sought to redefine art by throwing out all expectations, just as Cage would do. I think that some comparison of the visual realm to Cage is fair because all these artists shared the avant garde ideals of revising expectations. But the sleek minimalism of Rothko and Newman seem to have more aesthetically to do with Reich's cool repetition than Cage's works. Aesthetically, Cage's music shares the most with Pollock, who it seems was the most interested in the process side of the art.

Obviously Cage's interest zen and other Eastern realms were hugely influential on his chance operations.