{"product_id":"john-cage-a-mycological-foray-variations-on-mushrooms","title":"John Cage: A Mycological Foray: Variations on Mushrooms","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe composer John Cage was also a passionate mycologist. In 1972, he wrote a limited-edition book about mushrooms [...] Now the \"Mushroom Book,\" a reproduction with lithographic illustrations, anecdotes, poetry and even authors' scribblings, has been reissued in a boxed set with \"A Mycological Foray\" by Cage and others.--Florence Fabricant \"New York Times\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAdds new depth to Cage's well-trod biography... \"John Cage: A Mycological Foray\" paints a charming portrait of the composer by way of his habits and tastes. [...] The book's accompanying photos, depicting Cage foraging and lunching with friends, make for an intimate character study. Together with the anecdotes and excerpts, they immerse the reader in his world, offering a sense of what it might have been like to share buttered chanterelles and watercress salad at his table in Stony Point. Reproductions of nature photos from Cage's personal collection also suggest what this world looked like through his eyes, hinting at the ways that his personal life conformed to the logic of his teachings. Every Cage fan knows that the man was as extraordinary as his art; the revelation offered by this book is that there's almost no point in trying to distinguish them.--Max Pearl \"Art In America\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpecial Mention for Photo-Text Book Award-- \"Rencontre D'Arles Awards\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn a world of cramped attention spans and widespread ecological devastation, A Mycological Foray serves as a timely reminder of the open-ended curiosity and patchy unpredictability that Cage found in his wanders through the woods.-- \"Tank\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Cage: A Mycological Foray explores the acclaimed (and often experimental) American composer and theorist's fascination with mushrooms. As Cage famously proclaimed, 'I have come to the conclusion that much can be learned about music by devoting oneself to the mushroom.'-- \"Cool Hunting\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMushrooms have been muses to artists from Beatrix Potter to Cy Twombly to Takashi Murakami. For the avant-garde artist and composer John Cage, foraging for them became a way of life.--Julia Vitale \"Airmail\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis edition is an enrapturing and inspiring peek into the elusive world and mind of John Cage, and a reminder of the unique lens we can hold up to the enchanting world around us.--Rae Niwa \"Flaunt\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEven the pages of this stunning tome are art, and part of it is printed on apple paper, a way of reducing food waste.--Francesca Gavin \"Financial Times\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA fantastical journey into a familiar and foreign world, as multi-dimensional as Cage and the mushrooms themselves.--Editors \"AnOther\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Cage: A Mycological Foray--Variations on Mushrooms embodies the artist's devotion to foraging, in terms of mushrooms and his broader practice. It meanders across compositions, photographs, contemplations, drawings, and essays, rousing multiple senses as it goes. [...] No matter how much one knows about Cage or mycology, the book surprises with its unique sensuality, as well as its ode to continuous wonder.--Victoria Nebolsin \"Hyperallergic\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe avant-garde American composer behind \"4'33\",\" that conceptual work of complete silence, was fascinated with mushroom foraging. Herewith, his collected writings and findings.--Vivian S. Toy \"New York Times\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis handsome two-book set gathers almost all of Cage's mycological musings and includes the first reproduction of his gorgeous, now impossible-to-find 1972 portfolio 'Musroom Book.'--Randy Kennedy \"Ursula\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDespite his avid commitment [to mycology], Cage considered himself an amateur--and true to form, much of the scholarship surrounding his work has treated these activities as a charming but peripheral diversion from his artistic practice. A new publication, however, looks to shift this established narrative by revealing a veritable oeuvre of mushroom-inspired output. ...This new volume is easily the most comprehensive to date, lending readers the means to reassess his purportedly casual interest.--Editors \"Kaleidoscope\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tI have come to the conclusion that much can be learned about music by devoting oneself to the mushroom, ' says John Cage in his book A Mycological Foray - Variations on Mushrooms. The experimental composer was not alone in his belief that humble fungi are, in fact, a treasure trove of unexpected revelations. Chefs, skincare experts, and artists alike are harvesting the various benefits of the 'shroom for their own creations.--Mary Cleary \"Wallpaper*\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Cage: A Mycological Foray, traces the breadth of Cage's interest in fungal species, digging out connections with his artistic philosophy.--Josie Thaddeus-Johns \"Apollo\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis is an art object as much as it is a book [...] a diaristic hodgepodge of photographs, poems, and short essays explaining Cage's relationship to mushrooms over the decades. For anyone with a passing interest in fungi or avant-garde electroacoustic music, this book is nourishing.--Kate Knibbs \"WIRED\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEnchanting and idiosyncratic, A Mycological Foray is a tribute to the enigmatic composer John Cage and the magical nature of fungi.--Frank Brasile \"Shelf Awareness\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCage's embrace of indeterminacy and chance, and his reminder to celebrate discovery and revel in the outdoors, feels like the poignant invitation we all need to receive over and over again and are rejuvenated in accepting.--Allie Haeusslein \"Photo Eye\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA stunning new book about Cage's mycology titled A Mycological Foray [shows the] serendipity involved in mushroom foraging, requiring both acceptance of chance and attentiveness to it, echoed Cage's use of chance as a compositional technique. Contradicting avant-garde self-importance, Cage proposed that music and mushrooms were equivalent, and whether one chose fungi or sound, what mattered was the act of foraging.--Jonathon Keats \"Forbes\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCage's brief brush with mainstream celebrity is recounted in John Cage: A Mycological Foray, an elegant art book that delves deep into the composer's lifelong fascination with mushrooms [...]It is illustrated by photographs of Cage foraging; diary entries, notebooks and essay excerpts related to his passion as well as an often surreal selection of his vast collection of fungi-related ephemera - postcards, collages and various well-thumbed guidebooks on the identification of mushroom species. [...]Put simply, for Cage, music was music and mushrooms were mushrooms.--Sean O'Hagan \"Guardian\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAn omnibus of his mushroom-themed writings [...] Ever attuned to the music hidden in silence, he insisted that we should learn to listen to mushrooms as they released their spores to the air.--Ligaya Mishan \"T Magazine\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFinalist for the Lucie Photobook Prize Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eForaging for mushrooms with John Cage: writing, art, photography and ephemera from an idiosyncratic chapter in the composer's life\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImagined as an extended mushroom-foraging expedition, \u003ci\u003eJohn Cage: A Mycological Foray\u003c\/i\u003e gathers together Cage's mushroom-themed compositions, photographs, illustrations and ephemera. \u003ci\u003eIndeterminacy Stories\u003c\/i\u003e and other writings by Cage are interwoven throughout the first volume within a central essay examining Cage's enduring relationship with mycology. Also included is a transcript of Cage's 1983 performance, \u003ci\u003eMUSHROOMS et Variationes\u003c\/i\u003e. The second volume is the inaugural reproduction of Cage's 1972 portfolio, \u003ci\u003eMushroom Book\u003c\/i\u003e, authored in collaboration with illustrator Lois Long and botanist Alexander H. Smith. Readers are thus drawn through the landscape of Cage's mycologically centred oeuvre and interests, discovering assorted works, images, compositions, philosophies and ephemera, as one might encounter assorted fungi and flora while foraging. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eJohn Cage: A Mycological Foray\u003c\/i\u003e constitutes a new, idiosyncratic chapter in Cage's oeuvre, a departure from the composer's more established narrative. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAmerican composer and music theorist \n\u003cb\u003eJohn Cage\u003c\/b\u003e (1912-92) was a pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music and a leading figure of the postwar avant-garde. His influence extended to the realms of dance, poetry, performance and visual art. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 07\/24\/2020 (EAN 9781733622004, Paperback)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Atelier Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51502670643478,"sku":"9781733622004","price":72.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781733622004.jpg?v=1783312697","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/john-cage-a-mycological-foray-variations-on-mushrooms","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}