Stephen Hodge - two to the power of six

Conceived by myself. Created and performed by myself and Deborah Procter, with a live soundscape by Dave Sawyer. Created with assistance from Matt Fletcher. Hosted in 1997 by Spacex Gallery, Exeter (with thanks to its then curator, Alex Farquharson).

Financially supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England and Exeter Arts Council.

two to the power of six was a homage to John Cage (1912 - 1992), and a companion piece to my work inspired by Erik Satie and the environs he lived in, for piano solo. Cage was one if the leading composers of the American avant garde, credited for staging the first 'Happening' in 1952 at Black Mountain College. He became interested in by-passing the ego, and said, 'I came to the intention of making my work non-intentional, because I had no desire to express my ideas or my feelings. I wanted rather to open my mind to what was outside of my mind, and so I had to become free of my likes and dislikes.' In typical Cage-ian style two to the power of six was structured through a process of consulting the I-Ching, the ancient Chinese oracle (a binary system with 64 permutations). It drew material from Cage's quasi-diary, Diary: How to improve the World (You will only make Matters worse).

I: Oppression (Exhaustion) - 4 minutes

II: The Army - 8 minutes

III: Waiting (Nourishment) - 14 minutes

IV: The Well - 8 minutes

V: The Family - 26 minutes

By night, the gallery hosted the core performance (John Cage's diary, chance operations, prepared piano, 22 telephone calls, 64 minutes). By day, the gallery hosted various actions and objects (I-Ching readings, global communications, mushroom soup, performance residues, sculpture).

Images: George Falloon.

Oppression (Exhaustion)