Lecture on Nothing
a music performance
based on the homonymous text by John Cage
Katerina Iliopoulou · Alexis Porfiriadis · Anna Tzakou
John Cage’s Lecture on Nothing is a verbal score—one of the seminal texts of twentieth-century experimental music notation—and at the same time a profoundly reflective artistic manifesto. In an age governed by relentless economism, Cage’s writing foregrounds non-possession as a fundamental value of both art and life, and affirms the present, unrepeatable moment as our sole true ownership.
Katerina Iliopoulou, Alexis Porfiriadis, and Anna Tzakou transform Cage’s work into a performative event and invite the audience into a practice of attentive, in-depth listening. Guided by Cage’s humor, wit, and iconoclastic spirit, they remain open to chance and change, and engage with language and its endless internal commentary. The three artists explore word and silence as ephemeral elements of space and time (or as sound, body, and environment), and construct a framework for reflective contemplation of the present.
The text in Greek takes place for the first time.
Thanks to the John Cage Trust and Wesleyan University Press for granting the rights.
concept, dramaturgy: Anna Tzakou
text translation: Katerina Iliopoulou
sound design: Alexis Porfiriadis
live action: Katerina Iliopoulou (writing),
Alexis Porfiriadis (sound),
Anna Tzakou (performance)
lighting design: Melina Mascha
assistant director: Konstantina Kontomanoli
poster design: Yorgis Noukakis
photo credits: Panayiotis Ioannidis
video: Dimitris Alexakis
ArtForm Cultural Platform production
Funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Wednesday 12, 19, 26 March & 2 April 2025 | 21:00
TV Control Center (KET)
Athens, Greece
