This quiet, graceful book by visual artist Susan Barron and John Cage, the most influential figure of the American avant-garde was published in 1981. ANOTHER SONG was featured in the Winter 1993 issue of the Art Journal’s exploration of the most important collaborations of the 20th Century. Cage declared it to be his favorite, if, that is, he allowed himself to possess favorites!

Neither the uncommonly small size of the pictures – the dimensions of which are but a few inches – nor the pictures’ tenor claim any ground in our age of bigger is better, turned up volumes and instantaneous digital experiences. The pictures were not re-sized to fit into a small book format; rather the book was designed to accommodate the pictures. Barron has always worked in unusually subtle formats and continues to produce works of amazing density. Cage’s poetic text is carefully and occasionally entwined with the pictures. The total effect of ANOTHER SONG is an experience that is at once mystifying, luxurious and intensely satisfying. Despite Barron’s medieval sensibility and working methods, her work is included in all three editions of A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes.

ANOTHER SONG has been acquired by leading museums and private collectors including The Ruth & Marvin Sackner Archive of Visual Poetry, now housed in Special Collections at the University of Iowa Library, Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NewYork), Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Israel Museum (Jerusalem) and The Detroit Institute of Art. The book resides in rare book repositories around the world including the Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris),The Pierpont Morgan Library, Rare Book & Early Manuscrips Division, Camabridge (UK), The Rosenwald Collection at The Library of Congress, The Newbery Library, Chicago, The British Library (London), The Spencer Collection at The New York Public Library, The University of Illinois Library: Special Collections (Urbana). The Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas, Washington University Libraries (St. Louis), and Smith College, Northampton.

ANOTHER SONG has been exhibited at The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Museum for Women in the Arts, twice at the Israel Museum (Jerusalem) & thrice at The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Full wall exhibitions have been undertaken by the Krannert Art Museum, the University of Illinois (Urbana), The Southeastern Museum of Photography (Daytona Beach), Drexel University Museum (Philadelphia), Smith College (Northampton), The Art Museum of the University of Iowa and The Center for Contemporary Art, St. Louis. In Barron’s first non-museum, non-library exhibit in twenty years, ANOTHER SONG was shown in 2002 at Printworks Gallery, Chicago.

Barron’s visual works include collages, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, etchings & other ink prints. LABYRINTH OF TIME, a chain of 77 works on paper is housed in eleven full leather volumes. With wings unfurled, it extends to over 150 linear feet {42 linear meters}. The premiere exhibition was at the Newberry Library of Chicago, moving on to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum filling the entire 3rd floor of The Cole Wing. She has produced over 50 artist’s books. Except for another song, each in an edition limited to one copy. In addition to writing poetry, she is adapting her 1995 short story into an opera libretto of the same name: JAMAICA MISTAKE. An Artist’s Archive has been established for her writings, files, book maquettes and ephemera at The Newberry.