Difference / Indifference

First Published in 1999. For the first time gathered together in book form, here are the influential writings of Moira Roth-articles, lectures, and inter­views-on the two men who for so long embodied the very spirit of the avant­garde, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage. For almost thirty years Duchamp and Cage, who seemed to live on the border of modernism, and later, of postmodernism, alternately have fascinated, irritated, inspired, and daunted the author. Since her initial engagement with Duchamp and Cage in the early seventies, Roth increasingly focused on the work of many American artists-primarily women-only to return to Duchamp and Cage intermit­tently. At first, they were an inspiration for her writing and teaching. However, as they transformed themselves into classical figures, she came to reconsider and re-evaluate them. This collection offers a wide variety of literary forms-analytic, diaristic, art historical, and autobiographical-all of which Roth has used in her work. Collectively these writings form the subject of compelling and unique critical exchange between Moira Roth, who holds the Trefethen Chair of Art History at Mills College, Oakland, and Jonathan D.Katz, who is Chair of the Department of Gay and Lesbian Studies at City College, San Francisco. Chapter 1 Introduction, Moira Roth; partone Essays by Roth, 1977, and Commentary by Katz, 1998; Chapter 2 Marcel Duchamp in America, Moira Roth; Chapter 3 The Aesthetic of Indifference, Moira Roth; Chapter 4 Identification, Jonathan D Katz; parttwo Interviews by Roth About Marcel Duchamp, 1973; Chapter 5 John Cage on Marcel Duchamp, Moira Roth, William Roth; Chapter 6 Robert Smithson on Duchamp, Moira Roth; Chapter 7 Interview with Vito Acconci, Moira Roth; Chapter 8 Interview With George Segai, Moira Roth; partthree Essays and Performance Texts by Roth, 1991–1995, Commentary by Katz, 1998; Chapter 9 The Voice of Shigeko Kubota (Excerpts), Moira Roth; Chapter 10 talking back, moira roth; Chapter 11 five stories about st. john,, Moira Roth; Chapter 12 Difference, Jonathan A katz;