4 feet and 33 inches (ellipse)
4 feet and 33 inches (ellipsis)

(2017)

Other versions: 4 feet and 33 inches (wood) (metal), 4 feet and 33 inches (circles) (lines) (ring).

John Cage has referred to his famed 1952 composition 4’33” as a work that could be pronounced either ‘four minutes, thirty-three seconds’ or ‘four feet, thirty-three inches’.

Cage’s composition is rendered in two distinct neon works here, one where the three movements of Cage’s composition adopt the geometric figure of an ellipse, and the other where the three movements are in the form of an ellipsis—the punctuation mark consisting of three periods indicating that something has been taken out. Each piece contains three neon segments. In each case the size of the segment is proportional to the timing of the three movements as determined by Cage: 0’33”, 2’40” and 1’20”. In other words, the three segments of each piece add up to four feet and thirty-three inches in length. In addition, the neons silently perform the piece by turning on and off according to the durations set by Cage’s three movements; the three added up together play the piece in four minutes and thirty-three seconds.

Presented as part of the four-person exhibition “Silence, Pressure, Noise” (alongside Christine Sun Kim, Darrin Martin, Rehab Nazzal), curated by Vicky Moufawad-Paul for the McIntosh Gallery), London, Ontario, Canada.. November 10, 2017 – January 13, 2018.