Indeterminacy 59

Earle Brown and I spent several months splicing
magnetic tape together. We sat on opposite sides of
the same table. Each of us had a pattern of the
splicing to be done, the measurements to be made,
etc. Since we were working on tapes that were later
to be synchronized, we checked our measurements
every now and then against each other. We invariably
discovered errors in each other’s measurements. At
first each of us thought the other was being
careless. When the whole situation became somewhat
exasperating, we took a single ruler and a single
tape and each one marked where he thought an inch
was. The two marks were at different points. It
turned out that Earle Brown closed one eye when he
made his measurements, whereas I kept both eyes
open. We then tried closing one of my eyes, and
later opening both of his. There still was
disagreement as to the length of an inch. Finally
we decided that one person should do all the final
synchronizing splices. But then errors crept
in due to changes in weather. In spite of
these obstacles, we went on doing what we were
doing for about five more months, twelve
hours a day, until the work was finished.

- John Cage