Part 6 Summary and Analysis

"On Robert Rauschenberg, artist, and his Work" (1961) This essay is a commentary on, and analysis of, the work of painter Robert Rauschenberg who, according to the free-form language and structure of the essay, painted in the same way as composers of contemporary, experimental music composed—with an emphasis on the random, and the free.

"Lecture on Nothing" (1959) An introduction describes the calculated method by which the words of the lecture were printed on the original pages. As published, the lines of words are broken down into columns, with punctuation appearing in a separate column and small figures indicating transitions between sections. The lecture itself begins with commentary on how poetry "is the realization that we possess nothing," and continues with the statement that whatever we experience "since we do not possess it" is a delight but that its loss must...