Where R=Ryoanji

Best known for his experimental music, Cage was also a respected visual artist. In 1983, Cage began a series of prints at Crown Point Press based on the Ryoanji rock garden in Kyoto (considered by many to represent the quintessence of Japanese Zen doctrine and art), he brought with him 16 rocks collected from various places around the world. There are 15 rocks in the Ryoanji garden; Cage brought 16 so he could select 15 for the prints through chance operations. He put the rocks on etching plates and drew around them. The decision as to which rocks would be used was left to chance and readings of the I Ching. In each work R stands for 15 rocks, and is squared or cubed.  Cage found the position of each individual rock on the plate then over and over, each time finding a new position by consulting his computer-printed I Ching tables of chance operation.  He put the rocks on the etching plates and drew around them. The decision as to which rocks were used was left to chance and the consultation of I Ching. The number of drawings per plate was dictated by a progressive, mathematical formula. R3 contains 3375 drawings. These are typical examples of the poetic images Cage could achieve through chance, accident, and strict adherence to a self imposed system of “rules.”