http://blogs.walkerart.org/visualarts/2009/07/10/bits-pieces/ Just another Walker Blogs weblog Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:00:16 -0500 walker_blogs hourly 1 http://blogs.walkerart.org/visualarts/2009/07/10/bits-pieces/comment-page-1/#comment-677 Frank Gaard Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:20:34 +0000 http://blogs.walkerart.org/visualarts/?p=558#comment-677 At some point the avant-garde becomes less so as new players mount the stage. John Cage I've been conscious of since art school days in the early 1960's and he was the very definition of an advanced artist same for Merce Cunningham, And as they and I grew older did they become less edgy? I remember a performance they did at Walker where a rude audience member shouted something to the effect that he found them bogus and fake as art. Siah Armajani rose to his feet to applaud Cage and Cunningham as a sign of support and to show solidarity with their difficult presentation.I recall thinking that the audience had become less passive and that this didn't serve the artists at hand who depended on a certain quietude and belief in their mutual genius.But at some point we are all eclipsed by a future that isn't as accommodating as our youthful days. Besides legends and heroes fit unwell into this future we live in. Perhaps becoming famous or noteworthy is not the measure of things, instead show me something , sing a song that takes me someplace new, and make room for other voices other musics. The future even history remains unwritten , ding dong the witch is dead still. At some point the avant-garde becomes less so as new players mount the stage. John Cage I’ve been conscious of since art school days in the early 1960’s and he was the very definition of an advanced artist same for Merce Cunningham, And as they and I grew older did they become less edgy? I remember a performance they did at Walker where a rude audience member shouted something to the effect that he found them bogus and fake as art. Siah Armajani rose to his feet to applaud Cage and Cunningham as a sign of support and to show solidarity with their difficult presentation.I recall thinking that the audience had become less passive and that this didn’t serve the artists at hand who depended on a certain quietude and belief in their mutual genius.But at some point we are all eclipsed by a future that isn’t as accommodating as our youthful days. Besides legends and heroes fit unwell into this future we live in. Perhaps becoming famous or noteworthy is not the measure of things, instead show me something , sing a song that takes me someplace new, and make room for other voices other musics. The future even history remains unwritten , ding dong the witch is dead still.

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