Part Two: Process: The I Ching. Oblique Strategies, the I Ching and Unusual Combinations. A practical approach to using experimental techniques to unlock writer’s block.

Thanks to John Cage and a wealth of talented, inventive artists, traditional approaches to composition and performance in every artistic discipline were questioned and reinvented in the 20th Century. New ideas about creating art, inspired by the ideas of the Dadaists and the post-Dadaists, are still being explored and adapted today. In part one of this post, I briefly explored the influence Cage and Eno had, and still have, on process. In this post, I am going to explore one of 3 strategies that may lead artists down different paths: The I Ching, Oblique Strategies and my own strategy of habit-breaking using unusual combinations of instruments and effects.

Cage and the I Ching

Larson noted that by the late 1950s, Cage found a way to "release the tight fist of ego by devising a radically new way of composing" (2012, pg. 175). Cage used a variety of processes to divine artistic truth for himself. Ultimately, with the aid of the I Ching " Each sound is free to be itself. Nothing can cling to it: no interpretation, no ideas, no anger, no hurt; no "masterpiece judgment, no "not-masterpiece" judgment" (2012, pg. 175). Upon getting the I Ching from his student Christian Wolff, Cage claimed that the book "never left my side" (Larson, 2012, pg. 176).

Cage completely surrendered to the outcome of his work, regardless of whether it pleased or displeased the audience. Most of us want a little more control over the destiny of our work, but that doesn't mean that the I Ching does not have philosophic or practical value. 

Using the I Ching
Using the I Ching requires a bit of playfulness from the participant. Start with 3 coins. Flip them all. The 3 coins will land on heads or tails. Repeat the process 6 times. Write the results in a row from bottom to top. Each pattern coincides with a design from the hexagram. The sequence will combine to coincide with text from the book of I Ching. Call the process fate, luck or chance. Some consider it mystical, while others remove supernatural meaning and simply use the I Ching as a guide for focusing the mind or guiding process.

I Ching hexagram retrieved from http://bit.ly/1EGtPNj

I Ching hexagram retrieved from http://bit.ly/1EGtPNj

After completing the steps above and locating the corresponding passages, the book may read as follows:

"9. Suspended Progress

When obstacles block progress, one most commonly feels stunted, foiled, perhaps defeated as a current tendency indicates. Recognize that planting in a drought will bear no seedlings, for although thunder clouds laden in darkness recline along the horizon, rains do not always follow. A period of waiting is required now, for such unfavorable conditions are present and require restraint before progress can resume..." (Stephenson, 2012, pg. 30)

For those familiar with Eno's Oblique Strategies, it is clear how they are directly descended from, and inspired by, the I Ching.  The advice is straightforward, and can be applied to the self psychologically, philosophically, spiritually and even directly in relation to the creative process.

In the 3rd entry in this series, I will look at Eno's Oblique Strategies.

The process of using the I Ching is explained here:

How To Consult the I Ching retrieved from http://bit.ly/1DNDLhj

References

Eno, B., & Schmidt, P. (1978). Oblique strategies. Opal, London.       

Gilbert, B. (2010). How To Consult the I Ching retrieved from http://bit.ly/1DNDLhj

Larson, K. (2012). Where The Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the inner life of artists. Penguin.

Stephenson, S. (2012). I CHING: A Book About Change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform