Indeterminacy 101

Peggy Guggenheim, Santomaso,
and I were in a Venetian
restaurant. There were only
two other people dining in the same
room and they were not conversing.
I got to expressing my
changed views with regard to the
French and the Italians.
I said that I had years before
preferred the French because of their
intelligence and had found the
Italians playful but intellectually not
engaging; that recently,
however, I found the French
cold in spirit and lacking in freedom
of the mind, whereas the
Italians seemed warm and surprising.
Then it occurred to me that
the couple in the room were French.
I called across to them
and said, “Are you French?”
The lady replied.
“We are,” she said,
“but we agree with you completely.”

- John Cage

Indeterminacy 72

When Xenia and I came to New York from
Chicago, we arrived in the bus station
with about twenty-five cents.
We were expecting to stay for a while with
Peggy Guggenheim and Max Ernst.
Max Ernst had met us in Chicago and had
said, “Whenever you come to New York,
come and stay with us. We have
a big house on the East River.” I went
to the phone booth in the bus station,
put in a nickel, and dialed.
Max Ernst answered. He didn’t
recognize my voice. Finally he
said, “Are you thirsty?” I said,
“Yes.” He said, “Well, come
over tomorrow for cocktails.”
I went back to Xenia and told her what had
happened. She said,
“Call him back. We have
everything to gain and nothing to lose.”
I did. He said, “Oh!
It’s you. We’ve
been waiting for you for weeks.
Your room’s ready. Come right over.”