Indeterminacy 63

David Tudor and I went up to New Haven to do a
television class for the New Haven State Teachers
College. That college specializes
in teaching by means of television. What
they do is to make a tape, audio and visual,
and then broadcast it at a later date early in
the morning. In the course of my
talking, I said something about the purpose
of purposelessness. Afterwards, one
of the teachers said to the head of the Music
Department, “How are you going to explain that
to the class next Tuesday?”
Anyway, we finished the TV business,
drove back to the school, and I asked the
teachers to recommend some second-hand bookstores
in New Haven for David Tudor and me to visit.
They did. A half-hour later when we
walked into one of them, the book dealer
said, “Mr. Tudor? Mr. Cage?” I said,
“Yes?” He said, “You’re to call the State
Teachers College.” I did. They said
the television class we had recorded had not
been recorded at all. Apparently
someone forgot to turn something on.

- John Cage