He goes on to mention a similar occurrence in 3-d art :  ”This openness exists in the fields of modern sculpture and architecture.  The glass houses of Mies van der Rohe  reflect their environment, presenting to the eye images of clouds, trees, or grass, according to the situation.  And while looking at the constructions in wire of the sculptor Richard Lippold, it is inevitable that one will see other things, and people too, if they happen to be there at the same time, through the network of wires.”

I wasn’t familiar with Richard Lippold,  but when I looked him up, I was fascinated by his work. Looking at his art with Cage’s perspective on space made it even more fascinating to me.  I looked into the work of Mies van der Rohe as well. I have to confess that I never thought about architecture as an art form. It’s not that I didn’t think it was, I just never put much thought into it. Now I’m seeing it as yet another artistic niche to explore.

I’ve been exploring Cage’s idea of silence in music for quite a while and I think the use of space in art would be worth exploring, too. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts, it would be great to see your comments below.

“There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear.” ~ John Cage

Flight ((1962) Richard Lippold

Farnsworth House designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1951)

Source:
Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage  Wesleyan University Press

Read more about Cage on my other website HERE.
For an extreme and somewhat humorous example of Cage’s use of silence click HERE.