John Cage the Eternal

John Cage, 1912 - 1992

I have a habit of saving old New Yorkers just in case there is something that I really want to read that I missed when the issue was new. On the downside this behavior hints at hoarding. On the plus side, you can encounter great articles like Alex Ross's piece from 2010 on the life and legacy of John Cage. Cage wanted us to hear the world anew, and he helped lay the groundwork for the whole culture of DJs and sampled music -- quite a legacy. At the time, Cage found more affinity in the visual arts community, but in the end the music community came around, too. Ironically, what he wanted to do was break cages, especially the cages built by our obsession with control.