Exploring the Changing Elements of I Ching in Artistic Creation

Abstract

In the post-World War II era, amid widespread questioning of artistic intentionality and historical truth, the I Ching (Book of Changes) offered Western artists a structured philosophy of change. This paper examines how Merce Cunningham and John Cage engaged with the I Ching, not as a divinatory or holistic system, but as a methodological framework for introducing chance into creative process. Cunningham operationalized its hexagrams to determine choreography through coin tosses and spatial mappings, while Cage adapted its symbolic systems into generative rules for music and visual art. Their practices reflect a selective translation, prioritizing procedural logic over cosmic harmony, shaped by 20th-century consumer culture and Zen philosophy, ultimately codifying the I Ching into an artistic tool for navigating chaos and contingency. Inspired by this approach, the author's interactive digital work Trace further explores themes of journey, perception, and chance through real-time video and sound, examining the tension between systematic generation and lived experience, while reflecting on the material and technical constraints of exhibition practice.