Two Times 4’33”

Artist’s book in association with Two Times 4’33” 2008, a film by Manon de Boer. Published as part of On Paper, a special collaborative project between 5th Berlin Biennial of Contemporary Art 2008 and A Prior Magazine.

For Two Times 4’33” Manon de Boer staged and filmed two concerts of John Cage’s notoriously silent music composition in three movements, 4’33” (1952). The first half of the two-part 35mm film captures the “natural” sound and image of the performance with a camera fixed on avant-garde pianist Jean-Luc Fafchamps. In the second half of the film, the contextual soundtrack is left out, a fact felt all the more poignantly as the camera gently pans toward the concert audience and onto a windy outdoor scene heard previously in the first version of the performance.
In turn, this publication is based on the film Two Times 4’33” by Manon de Boer. The book has the same size as the original score by John Cage for 4’33”. The first half of this two-part book is full with texts about ‘silence’, subdivided in three parts. The second half is a copy of the first three parts but without texts.

Graphic Design: Inge Ketelers
Translations: Marie Shields, Michele Hendricks
Printed by Die Keure, Brugges
Published with the support of the Flemish Ministry of Culture and KASK (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) Ghent.