Conférence sur rien (1949)
‘I am here and I have nothing to say.’ These are the words with which the American composer, theorist and philosopher John Cage opened his Lecture on Nothing at the New York Artists’ Club in 1949. The text was like a hypnotizing score that mirrored the structure of Cage’s recent musical compositions – including his particular attention to silence. At the same time, it was an artistic manifesto: a stream of consciousness of poetry, philosophy and autobiographical fragments that raised crucial questions. What do we need? Where does our happiness lie? And how can we love the world?
• The French choreographer Jérôme Bel has performed on Kaaitheater’s stage for more than twenty years. We have staged productions like The show must go on, Pichet Klunchun and myself and Jérôme Bel.
by John Cage | read by Jérôme Bel | translation to French Vincent Barras in Silence – Conférences et écrits (Éditions Héros-Limite) | production R.B. Jérôme Bel | thanks to La Commune Centre dramatique national d’Aubervilliers, Festival d'Automne à Paris, The John Cage Trust | artistic advice and executive direction Rebecca Lee | production manager Sandro Grando | R.B Jérôme Bel is supported by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d'Ile-de-France, French Ministry for Culture and Communication, the Institut Français, French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for its international tours, ONDA – Office National de Diffusion Artistique
