Born today. Welcome to the three-ring circus, baby boy!

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Robert Rauschenberg died last night. He was 82. It’s all over the entertainment news, so it’s no inside track here, but worth noting, and dutifully with hats off and a bow. I just Googled like a madman hoping to find a transcript of his MOCA/Calvin Tomkins interview at the Pacific Design Center, May 21, 2006, and came up empty. There was something he said that was so elegantly simple it caught me a bit by surprise when it stuck with me like the sound of one hand clapping for the rest of the day (and, obviously, even to now).

I’m going to try and paraphrase, hopefully I don’t butcher this, but when asked to elaborate upon his sometimes caustic differences of opinion with Merce Cunningham while designing for the dance company from 1955 to 1964 (and several times since), he paused what felt like over a minute, and summed it up pithily … “without separation, there can be no connection.”

Food for thought. Good night, and good luck.

Posted by: Colin Mangham