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Exhibition

Rolywholyover: A Circus for Museum by John Cage

June 4–July 30, 1995

Rolywholyover A Circus is a composition for museum created by the composer, writer, philosopher, and visual artist John Cage (1912-1992). One of the last large-scale projects that Cage conceived prior to his death, Rolywholyover A Circus transforms the Philadelphia Museum of Art into the setting for a constantly changing array of art, performances, film and video screenings, readings, and special programs. With many activities in the Museum occurring simultaneously, as in a circus, and the location of many objects in a constant flux guided by a computerized process of random distribution, the project breaks with traditional approaches to museum exhibition programming. The exhibition features a selection of works by artists important to Cage, interactive computer installations, and relevant ephemera, all rearranged daily according to a chance-derived "score." Cage said of the project, "The basic idea is that the exhibition would change so much that if you came back a second time, you wouldn't recognize it." Also on view are objects from fifty Philadelphia-area museums and special collections, chosen by chance procedures, as well as Cage's own graphic works. In the galleries is a media space offering live and prerecorded events throughout the run of Rolywholyover A Circus. Cage encouraged his audience to be open to unexpected experiences, and, in keeping with this philosophy, these events at the Museum will only be announced on the day of their presentation.

Itinerary

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Menil Collection, Houston
Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York
Mito Art Tower, Japan
Philadelphia Museum of Art


Main Building

Curators

Ann Temkin

Related Events

Check out the variety of events offered by this program, for members and the public alike.

Architectural elements
Ceremonial Teahouse: Sunkaraku (Evanescent Joys)
,

This ceremonial teahouse was built in about 1917 by the Japanese architect Ögi Rodö. Designed in the rustic tradition or "artless style" of the fifteenth-century artist Oguri Sotan, it also incorporates eighteenth-century elements. The Sunkaraku teahouse originally stood on the grounds of Rodö's private residence in Tokyo. He sold it to the Museum in 1928, and in 1957 it was installed at the Museum, making it the only work by Rodö outside Japan. The garden setting you see now was planned by one of Japan's foremost contemporary garden designers, Matsunosuke Tatsui.

The apparent artlessness of the teahouse in fact conceals acute attention to detail and to aesthetic pleasure. The architecture of both the waiting room and the tearoom reveals a special delight in natural materials such as cypress shingles (for the roof) and bamboo. Proximity to nature is also emphasized by the garden, visible from both buildings. Everything inside the tearoom has been planned to stimulate the mind and to delight the eye. Rough, unfinished vertical posts remind guests of their imperfections and their oneness with nature, and the tea utensils enhance their sensitivity to natural textures and artistic creativity.

The tea ceremony offers a temporary respite from the complexities of daily life. This mood perhaps inspired a famous devotee of the tea cult, Lord Fumai Matsudaira (1750-1818), when he autographed the tablet over the teahouse with the inscription "Sun Ka Raku," or Evanescent Joys.

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Architectural elements
Ceremonial Teahouse: Sunkaraku (Evanescent Joys)
,

This ceremonial teahouse was built in about 1917 by the Japanese architect Ögi Rodö. Designed in the rustic tradition or "artless style" of the fifteenth-century artist Oguri Sotan, it also incorporates eighteenth-century elements. The Sunkaraku teahouse originally stood on the grounds of Rodö's private residence in Tokyo. He sold it to the Museum in 1928, and in 1957 it was installed at the Museum, making it the only work by Rodö outside Japan. The garden setting you see now was planned by one of Japan's foremost contemporary garden designers, Matsunosuke Tatsui.

The apparent artlessness of the teahouse in fact conceals acute attention to detail and to aesthetic pleasure. The architecture of both the waiting room and the tearoom reveals a special delight in natural materials such as cypress shingles (for the roof) and bamboo. Proximity to nature is also emphasized by the garden, visible from both buildings. Everything inside the tearoom has been planned to stimulate the mind and to delight the eye. Rough, unfinished vertical posts remind guests of their imperfections and their oneness with nature, and the tea utensils enhance their sensitivity to natural textures and artistic creativity.

The tea ceremony offers a temporary respite from the complexities of daily life. This mood perhaps inspired a famous devotee of the tea cult, Lord Fumai Matsudaira (1750-1818), when he autographed the tablet over the teahouse with the inscription "Sun Ka Raku," or Evanescent Joys.

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