bend of bay features a changing selection of prose, poetry, images and other projects. It takes its name from the opening line of Finnegans Wake by James Joyce:
riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
“How far my efforts agree with those of other philosophers I will not decide.
Indeed what I have here written makes no claim to novelty in points of detail; and therefore
I give no sources, because it is indifferent to me whether what I have thought has already
been thought before me by another.”
A member of bend of bay recently participated in a recording of John McDonough’s John Cage tribute “Landscape Under Construction.” This recording will be part of “The Radio Pieces,” a two CD set forthcoming from mode records. In addition to Landscape Under Construction, the set will include Radio Music, Imaginary Landscape #4, and world premiere recordings of Speech and WBAI.
Landscape Under Construction is performed using boom boxes. In this particular realization, all CDs were performances released as part of mode records’ Complete John Cage Edition. Performers were given a score which generally contained instructions as to when to start or pause the CD, or raise or lower the volume. Some parts required more decisions on the performer’s part or prior preperation. A clock served as conductor.
More pictures from the session can be found on this Flikr page by vidiot, from which this image was taken.
In the 1980s I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, while, over the same period, listening to the music of John Cage and reading his writings. The two came together in a few performance projects which, for a variety of reasons, have never been realized. They were published by the The Abiko Quarterly in the early 1990’s. Versions of both can be found on bend of bay’s“projects” page.
I have decided to attempt a realization of Section II of Projects Finnegans Wake. This section calls for participants to read assigned sections of the text at a specific time. The reading can be performed at a location of the participant’s choosing or wherever they happen to be at the time. Participation doesn’t require any particular knowledge of Joyce or previous experience with Finnegans Wake. All that is required is interest in taking part in an event that attempts to bring Finnegans Wake to the world in as inclusive a manner as possible. Its premise is that Joyce meant the work to be read and enjoyed.
If you have never read Finnegans Wake, the full text is available here. Be sure to read aloud, because a great deal of the sense comes through the sound of the words. The length of the passage assigned will depend on how many readers we line up.
If you are interested in participating, please leave a comment on this page. Please note that comments will not be published so feel free to ask as many questions as you like. You can also use bend of bay’scontact form or write info@bendofbay.org.
This page will be updated as details are finalized.
John Cage’s 1960 performance of Water Walk on CBS TV’s I’ve Got a Secret. In this version, a union dispute prevented the radios from being plugged into the wall. Cage solves that problem during the performance by changing the score.
Click the image to read about this extraordinary piece of music. Pay particular attention to the text. This version was commissioned by Thomas Buckner and is included on Sign of the Times
bendof bay is pleased to provide server space and host the 1994-1999 archive of messages posted to Silence - The John Cage Mailing List. You can access the archive at http://www.bendofbay.org/silence.
If you have suggestions on a more efficient way of presenting the information in the archive, please let me know by leaving a comment on this post.
Going through the archives I rediscovered a piece of mail art received in December 2004 from Ryosuke Cohen. It is part of his Brain Cell project. The original is 11 x 17. The image below doesn’t quite do it justice, since my scanner is marginal. You can see more examples of his work on his flikr page.
The Brain Cell project was started in 1985 and to the best of my knowlege it is still active. For more information on Ryosuke Cohen, visit his home page. Specific information regarding participation in Brain Cell is at the bottom of the page.
Some time ago, Ralph Lichtensteiger sent a message to SILENCE, the John Cage mailing list, requesting ”… stories about your experience with the phenomena of Silence and noise …”
The result is Silence/Stories, a print ready 66 page pdf file that includes the stories, images and bios of the contributors. Contributors represent a wide array of backgrounds. Some worked with John Cage. Others wrote about him, or used some of his methods and ideas in their own work. (Full disclosure - this post was written by a contributor, although not one of those referred to in the previous two sentences). Some stories include anecdotes or responses to John Cage, and others describe “Cage influenced listening.” You can downdoad the PDF here or here.
I have just set up a bookstore, of sorts, using Amazon’s new aStore service. The link also appears in the sidebar. The store is quite simple and generally features authors and music I happen to care about or to be listening to at the moment. As with every other link on these pages, any commissions I collect are donated, in turn, to one of two food banks in New Jersey, U.S.A.
A member of bend of bay recently participated in a recording of John McDonough’s John Cage tribute “Landscape Under Construction.” This recording will be part of “The Radio Pieces,” a two CD set forthcoming from mode records. In addition to Landscape Under Construction, the set will include Radio Music, Imaginary Landscape #4, and world premiere recordings of Speech and WBAI.
In the 1980s I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, while, over the same period, listening to the music of John Cage and reading his writings. The two came together in a few performance projects which, for a variety of reasons, have never been realized. They were published by the The Abiko Quarterly in the early 1990’s. Versions of both can be found on bend of bay’s 
