Cage, Candid(e)

John Cage's 1992 Stanford reading of his last major piece of writing,  the lecture Overpopulation and Art, is on line here. Through-composed to mesostics using the letters of the title, this one of a series of summing-up statements, mostly on social themes and an argument for anarchy,  with a decided effort by Cage to write in his most optimistic voice. However, in the brief question session with which this reading ends, Cage's refusal and/or inability to answer a question reflects a more pessimistic tenor in that moment.