Abstract
During the premiere of Cage's famous 'silent' piece 4' 33'', the audience was irritated from not hearing anything. Nevertheless, Cage insisted that the piece was not silent but full of accidental sounds that were music.
However, were the first listeners truly mistaken? Can an artwork such as this one determine ways of perception or establish a fact? More generally, how can an artwork such as this one mean anything? To develop these questions, I will first define what 4' 33'' is and examine what makes it appealing. After considering whether 4' 33'' is a musical work, or a conceptual (symbolic) work, I will focus on Cage's aesthetic principles and conclude that there is no determinate way of interpreting the meaning of 4' 33'', in that its underlying principles are contradictory.
I will suggest that in order to explain the attractiveness of 4' 33'' as an artwork, it is helpful to consider how gestures can bear their meaning.