1970 - 1972

Cal Arts and into Video

 
 
 

Marcel Duchamp and John Cage is Kubota’s book which documents the performance and concert, Reunion by these two great artists. Reunion was a chess match between Duchamp and Cage held in Toronto, Canada, on March 5, 1968. The chess board was equipped with an acoustic system which would pick up the movements of chess pieces and alter the sound broadcasted from speakers in the space. Although this idea came from Cage, the realization became possible by three contemporary composers, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma, and David Behrman. The book is comprised of Kubota’s photographs of this event, Cage’s acrostic poem, and a sound sheet which has become a part of the recording of the event. Because it was published by the then chief editor of Bijutsu Techo, Takeyoshi Miyazawa in Japan, and was funded by Kubota and not intended for sale, it was not widely distributed. Later, Kubota turned these photographs into a single channel video, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage (1972), and incorporated the video into another video sculpture, Video Chess.

 
 
 

Chronology CalArts and Into Video

1970
■ Self-published a book, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage.
■ [Nov. ] Moved to Los Angeles, following Paik, after separating from Behrman.

1971
■ Audited lectures of Allan Kaprow and others at California Institute of Art. First exposure to the video camera and made Self Portrait
■ [June 1] Returned to New York.
■ [Nov. 19] 8th Annual New York Avant-Garde Festival (69th Regiment Armory, New York).