I had never heard of John Cage before this lecture. But from what I’ve understood, it’s a classic example of post-modernism. As previously discussed in my Pop Culture class, post modern art mostly consists of the “Everything can be art” mentality. Piero Manzoni was known especially for this sort of art, as he did ridiculous things for the sake of art and people bought it. An example of this is he defecated in a tin and sold it claiming it was “Artist’s Shit” (‘Merda d’artista’.) It was sold for thousands of dollars. John Cage pulled the same sort of act when he expected people to listen to silence, claiming it was just as effective as if he had played a whole symphony. I honestly can never tell if it’s genuinely an act for art or trying to trick people. People will buy anything if it’s for the sake of art which I find to be the most manipulative act in post-modernism.