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John Cage, Fire, 1985

Fire 9 was made by simultaneously running burning newspaper and a damp sheet of paper through a printing press, thereby fixing a unique imprint of fire — an unpredictable, ephemeral, and volatile element. Heated teapots, their temperature and position governed by chance calculations, were then used to brand the paper with rings.

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John Cage burning newspapers on the press bed at Crown Point Press, 1992, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

Banner image: Detail, John Cage, Eninka 29, 1986, burned, smoked, and branded gampi mounted to paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Crown Point Press, 1996, © John Cage Trust

Next: John Cage, The Missing Stone, 1989