Receptive Combines, Compositions, and Crowds: The Radio-Works of Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage

In 1997, Aktionsforum Praterinsel held the Munich exhibition "Haywire," acknowledging for the first time, the importance of Robert Rauschenberg's foray into art and technology. More recently, in September 2012, Laura Kuhn and Galen Joseph-Hunter arranged a month-long celebration of John Cage's compositions with, and for, the radio to be broadcast on WGXC. Prior to these events, the radio-works of both Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage had been largely ignored and under-investigated in favour of more broad-based technology conversations within their larger artistic outputs. This thesis promises a more focused investigation of Rauschenberg and Cage's engagement with technology, more specifically, that of the radio. The incorporation of a physical radio is found in two works from Rauschenberg's output, Broadcast (1959) and Oracle (1962-1965), and fourteen compositions from Cage's output, nine of which will be discussed in more depth. Adhering to Marshall McLuhan's idea that "the medium is the message," this thesis suggests that the radio in these "radio-works" does not function for the purpose of the telecommunication and broadcast of information. Rather, the radio is incorporated for the unique properties and possibilities it espouses. The radio-medium in the works of Rauschenberg and Cage is used to create a conscious and aware viewer through environment, time, and participation.