Subject, Object, Improv: John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, and Eastern (Western) Philosophy in Music
December 1, 2010 DOI: 10.21083/csieci.v6i2.851 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Cage's Zen-influenced practices, despite claims of self-removal, reinforced a self that mastered the body, while Oliveros's practices reflected an intersubjective, de-centralized self. Proposes that Western ideology of the subject/object split attenuated radical elements in both artists' work and marginalized Oliveros's improvisatory and corporeal practices. |
Abstract
This essay investigates composers Pauline Oliveros and John Cage, their use and abuse of Buddhist philosophy, and how these (mis)understandings influenced and were reflected in their attitudes toward improvisation. While John Cage famously claimed to remove his “self” from his work, I argue that his practices (informed by a mis-reading of Zen through a Protestant ideology) served to further instantiate a self that mastered the body. Oliveros’s interest in meditation, improvisation, and corporeal practices demonstrates an understanding of the “self” as intersubjective and de-centralized. I argue that the ideology of the subject/object, self/other split within the Western intellectual tradition has functioned to attenuate the radical elements within these artists’ work that challenged Western conceptions of the self, influencing Cage’s own philosophical understanding, and marginalizing the improvisatory and corporeal practices of Oliveros.