New Release:
JOHN CAGE: A MYCOLOGICAL FORAY – Variations on Mushrooms
“I have come to the conclusion that much can be learned about music by devoting
oneself to the mushroom.” – JOHN CAGE, 1954
Press Contact: Alexandra Fanning Communications / alex@alexandrafanning.com / (347) 468-073
(New York, NY, June 2020) – Atelier Éditions is pleased to announce John Cage: A Mycological Foray – Variations on Mushrooms, a monograph exploring the American composer’s fascination with mushrooms, releasing early June 2020.
John Cage: A Mycological Foray draws readers across the idiosyncratic, mushroom-suffused, innermost landscape of celebrated American composer John Cage. Upon the remarkable journey with Cage, one encounters assorted photographs, compositions, and contemplations; all in the very same unexpected fashion one encounters various flora and fungi species while mushroom foraging. Volume I encompasses Cage’s mycological-oriented Indeterminacy stories, Diary excerpts, and essays; and the complete transcript of Cage’s 1983 performance,
MUSHROOMS et Variationes. Volume II offers the inaugural reproduction of Cage’s 1972 portfolio, Mushroom Book; authored in collaboration with illustrator Lois Long and botanist Alexander H. Smith.
About the artist : John Cage (1912–92) was an American composer and music theorist. Recognized as a pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music and a leading figure of the postwar avant-garde, his influence extended to the realms of dance, poetry, performance and visual art.
Special Features
Mushroom Book : Volume II of the box set is comprised of the first ever full reproduction of 1972’s Mushroom Book. The portfolio artist’s book is reproduced at 75% scale for easier handling, all while keeping the oversized feel of the original.
Published in an edition of 75, Mushroom Book consists of 20 unnumbered lithographs with translucent Japanese-paper overlays in a large denim portfolio. Populating the loose leaves are mycological anecdotes; visual, poetic, factual. The book is a collaborative endeavor of John Cage, Alexander Smith, and Lois Long—a dialogue between the anecdotal and analytical, art and ecology.
Apple Paper : Inspired by Cage’s 1990 series Edible Drawings, several illustrations he authored upon paper which could be recycled as food, an idea catalyzed by the sight of impoverished South American families boiling ink from newspapers then eating the recovered pulp, the section of Volume I housing MUSHROOMS et Variationes has been printed upon environmental Cartamela paper; a paper made from the industrial waste of apple processing.
Details
WORKS by John Cage
CENTRAL ESSAY by Kingston Trinder
ADD. TEXTS by Isabelle Bucklow
EDITED by Ananda Pellerin
PUBLISHED by Atelier Éditions
FIRST EDITION
Edition of 4500
ISBN # 978-1-7336220-0-4
Hardcover Slipcase, 2 Volume Set
224 pages including 198 b&w and 25 color photographs
8 x 10.75 inches
Printed sustainably in Italy
Retail: $55 (US)
COLLECTORS EDITION
Limited Edition of 500
Box set including first edition book and our artist anthology Every Mushroom Is a Good Mushroom
Only available through the publisher directly
Retail: $55 (US)
About Atelier Éditions
Atelier Éditions is a limited-edition publishing house based between Los Angeles, California and London, United Kingdom. Authoring archival monographs, contemporary art books, and exploratory printed matter, the atelier regularly curates exhibitions, envisages cultural programming, initiates seminars, workshops, and enacts memorable collaborations.
For more information and high resolution images please contact Alexandra Fanning: alex@alexandrafanning.com +1 (347) 468 – 0735
Book Rendering Images
Interior Images
*IMAGE CREDITS: Photographer credits vary and are in the link here