John Cage @ The Hunterian Museum and Gallery

John Cage is primarily known for his work as an avant-garde pioneer of experimental music, perhaps his most notorious composition being his 1952 ‘silent’ piece, 4’33”. However, during the 1980s until his death in 1992, he increasingly turned his hand to the production of visual art. Every Day is a Good Day presents the first UK retrospective of these works.

Cage was fascinated by eastern philosophies, and from the 1950s onwards his work was increasingly influenced by the ancient Chinese system of I Ching, a complex system of generating chance results. Originally used for his musical compositions, he further developed the system in the production of his visual art, by now having devised computer software to simplify the process.

The convoluted unfolding of results removes Cage from the final decision making stage of the artistic process and liberates the artist from the inevitable prejudices of human taste. The prints in the exhibition bear a resemblance to the abstract paintings of Cy Twombly and, stylistically, could almost be ascribed the label Abstract Expressionism – if it were not for the nature of their production. Whereas Abstract Expressionism relied on the macho, egocentric position of the artist as creator, Cage’s work becomes the antithesis of this. His works are altruistic explorations into aesthetics, stylistically indebted to no prior artistic movement.

The ingenuity of this exhibition lies in its adoption of 'organised' chance to decide the parameters of the show, including the number of works on display and their positioning on the walls, in keeping with the operations Cage himself employed in his own exhibitions.

The show also includes TV screens displaying some of Cage’s musical performances. It is worth going just to watch numerous exhibition goers attempting to adjust the volume on 4’33”.