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Home>Yes No Maybe Introduction>Yes No Maybe Cage Introduction>Yes No Maybe Cage Eninka

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Exhibition Introduction

Note to the ReaderAcknowledgments

IntroductionKeithJohnLeslieSelf-Portrait

IntroductionTouched RedGreenCombinationHigh Green Version 1

Introduction17 Drawings by ThoreauSeven Day Diary (Not Knowing)Changes and DisappearancesWhere R=RyoanjiFireThe Missing Stone 75 StonesEninkaStonesWhere There is Where There

IntroductionAnne ApplebyPia FriesDarren AlmondSusan MiddletonJoel FisherBrad BrownTom Marioni

IntroductionMamma AnderssonSol LeWittFred WilsonRobert BechtleKiki Smith

IntroductionJulie MehretuWayne ThiebaudJockum NordströmTomma AbtsNathan OliveiraChris Ofili

IntroductionPat SteirLaura OwensWayne ThiebaudAmy Sillman

# John Cage, Eninka, 1986

John Cage, Eninka, 1986
*Eninka* (failure proof)1986burned and smoked papersheet: 24 1⁄4 × 18 1⁄2 (61.6 × 47)Crown Point Press© John Cage Trust

John Cage, Eninka, 1986
*Eninka 29*1986burned, smoked, and branded*gampi* mounted to papersheet: 24 1⁄2 × 18 1⁄2 (62.2 × 47)National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Crown PointPress, 1996© John Cage Trust

John Cage, Eninka, 1986
John Cage with printers Marcia Bartholme and Lawrence Hamlin working on the *Eninka*series at Crown Point Press, 1986, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

John Cage, Eninka, 1986
John Cage with printers Marcia Bartholme and Lawrence Hamlin working on the *Eninka*series at Crown Point Press, 1986, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

John Cage, Eninka, 1986
John Cage with printers Marcia Bartholme and Lawrence Hamlin working on the *Eninka*series at Crown Point Press, 1986, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

John Cage, Eninka, 1986
John Cage with printers Marcia Bartholme and Lawrence Hamlin working on the *Eninka*series at Crown Point Press, 1986, photograph by Kathan Brown, Courtesy Crown Point Press

Cage’s *Eninka***prints were made by simultaneously running burning newspaper and a damp sheet of paper through a printing press. A failure proof — a proof that the artist flatly rejected — is rare evidence of one of many tests conducted to determine a suitable combination of fire size and paper weight (see slideshow). The test yielded an imprint of a *New York Times*advertisement for the movie *Down and Out in Beverly Hills*. Deeming the print a resounding aesthetic failure, Cage reportedly laughed when he saw it, echoing the “Ha, Ha, Ha” and “Giggle, giggle, chuckle” from the advertisement.    For *Eninka 29,*crumpled, rather than flat, newspaper sheets were burned, creating an irregularly shaped hole through the surface. Cage was overjoyed by the first successful *Eninka*print: “Oh, it’s beautiful! I can’t believe it. I couldn’t sleep all night. I thought my whole life had been a waste!”

This video shows John Cage and the Crown Point printers making* Eninka 29*. The footage was shot in 1986 and edited by Kathan Brown in 2013, Courtesy of Kathan Brown.

Banner image: Detail, John Cage,* Eninka 29*, 1986, burned, smoked, and branded *gampi *mounted to paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Crown Point Press, 1996, © John Cage Trust

Next: John Cage, *Stones*, 1989

"Yes, No, Maybe: The Art of Making Decisions," lecture by exhibition curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)Julie Mehretu, artist, in conversation with curator Judith Brodie, Diamonstein-Spielvogel lecture (audio)"An Insider's Perspective," lecture by Kathan Brown, founder of Crown Point Press (audio)

Exhibition tour by curators Judith Brodie and Adam Greenhalgh (audio)

John Cage in the collection of the National Gallery of Art

Crown Point Press prints in the collection of the National Gallery of Art

Press release

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