John Cage and Merce Cunningham Discuss Chance and Collaboration in 1981 Interview

In spring 1981, during a residency program at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, choreographer Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage gave a joint interview. The two avant-garde figures, who collaborated extensively including at Black Mountain College in the 1950s, discussed the origins of their partnership and how their bold experimentation redefined performance. A central theme was the role of chance in art, with Cage explaining how Zen Buddhism influenced his use of indeterminacy to escape personal taste. Their methods fundamentally altered conceptions of art across music, painting, and performance.