Contemporary artists have explored and reimagined 0′00″ in new contexts.Composed in 1962, 0′00″—also known as 4′33″ No. 2—is seen as a major turning point in Cage’s work. It represents a clear break from his earlier style and marks the beginning of a new direction in his approach to composition.
The score for 0’00” is strikingly minimalist, consisting of a single sentence instruction: “In a situation provided with maximum amplification (no feedback), perform a disciplined action.” The premiere performance in Tokyo in 1962 involved Cage himself writing this sentence, with the act of writing being maximally amplified. This performative writing generated both the acoustic experience and the score itself.
0’00” and 4’33”
0’00” is fundamentally different from its namesake, 4’33”. While 4’33” focuses on ambient sound and the measurement of time, 0’00” is described as being not about measurement or sonic dimensions, nor does it use systems activated by chance operations. Instead, it centers on the personal action of the performer and the transformative power of amplification. The use of maximum electronic amplification is a common thread in Cage’s verbal works, typically applied to amplify and transform actions that are not primarily musical. The goal is to make audible “what is otherwise silent.“
The title 0’00” itself is indicative of a major shift, signifying no measurement of time at all. This represents a radical departure for Cage, whose music in the 1950s was largely based on time measurement. The concept of “zero time” was adopted by Cage from the composer Christian Wolff, where zero meant that the duration of an event was open or unnamed.
James Pritchett, in his article The Silent Piece Rebooted: 0’00”, argues that 0’00”, rather than 4’33”, is the piece most truly aligned with Cage’s ideas about silence. It directly embodies the lesson learned from Cage’s anechoic chamber experience, namely that there is no such thing as silence, only unintended sound. The work turns towards this universe of unintended sounds, presenting a clear and direct demonstration of their ever-presence. Cage explained that the piece suggests that “everything we do is music, or can become music through the use of microphones.“
Cage’s Trilogy
The “disciplined action” in 0’00” is intended as a continuation of one’s daily work, performed with amplification and without the conventional framework of a concert or theater. It is meant to be a fulfilling obligation to others, explicitly aiming to eliminate the possibility of self-expressive action and instead celebrate the acceptance of the accidental music that emerges from everyday life. While the performance is described as a “totally subjective situation” where the performer acts in a deliberate and personal fashion, evoking improvisation, the emphasis remains on the sounds produced by the action itself rather than on subjective musical expression.
Cage included 0’00” as the third work in his trilogy. Atlas Eclipticalis, the first piece in the trilogy, represents nirvana. Variations IV, the second work, represents “the turmoil of everyday life.” 0’00’, the third piece, represents individual action.
The piece is linked to other works in Cage’s output. It is repeated as Solo 8 in Song Books, a collection that also features solos directing performers to engage in “some other activity.” Solo 23 in Song Books is identical to 0’00”. The intermedia work Reunion (1968), also referred to as 0’00” No. 2, involved Cage and Marcel Duchamp playing an amplified game of chess. This connection highlights Cage’s interest in incorporating non-musical activities and technology, linking the work to Marshall McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message.” The piece can be seen as musically and physically transforming this concept.
Following its initial performance, additional instructions were added to the score, including a directive that “No two performances to be of the same action…” This introduces a rule-based structure to the work, similar to Cage’s other indeterminate pieces.
Contemporary artists have explored and reimagined 0′00″ in new contexts. Matthieu Saladin’s piece 4’33″/0’00” (2008) involves amplifying an analog recording of 4’33”, transforming it into an immersive soundscape of unintended noise. The Opening Performance Orchestra’s release of 0’00” on a flash memory device with a minimal data size references both 4’33” and the concept of “zero time,” while highlighting the unavoidable “noise floor” in electronic circuitry as evidence that silence does not exist.
For the Simple Harmonic Motion performance, microphones capture and amplify the sound of woodworking outside in a backyard in Brooklyn.
Historically, the published score by C.F. Peters sometimes uses the incorrect title 4’33” (No. 2) (0’00”), potentially for marketing purposes.
In essence, 0’00” pushes the boundaries of what constitutes a musical score and performance, moving away from traditional musical parameters to focus on the sonic results of everyday actions, amplified to reveal the ever-present nature of unintended sound.
