VT preparado AC/JC (“VT by AC/JC”) is an abstract video work (VT, video tape) inspired by the blank-sheet poetry of Brazilian avant-garde poet Augusto de Campos (AC) and the music of silence by minimalist composer John Cage (JC), an apologist for randomness and emptiness in creativity. The collaborative music and poetry project by the two men, Cage–Campos (1985), had caused a sensation at the 18th São Paulo Biennial. The video sequence is constantly interrupted by white pixelated frames, alluding to the blank white sheet on which, due to a technical error, a poem by Campos dedicated to Cage in 1977 failed to be printed. The white frames are interspersed with video glitches, excerpts from Cage’s interviews with the Biennial, fragments of de Campos’ visual works, and the words “SILENCE / VIOLENCE.” With participations by Waly Salomão, Décio Pignatari and Haroldo de Campos.
