The Influence of Poincaré’s Thoughts on the Origins of Random and Chance in Works of Marcel Duchamp and John Cage

Chance is a broad concept which has become an important factor in linking science and art in the twentieth century. Simultaneously, concept emerged as a new scientific paradigm in Arts by Henry Poincaré and especially Marcel Duchamp, who has affected many artists such as John Cage, one of aleatoric music pioneers .This paper investigates the differences and similarities of the chance concept in the art of Duchamp and Cage and Poincaré’s effects on them, that in this regard, employs a descriptive method and relies on library resources. Results show that the viewpoint of Cage and Duchamp is the same in the indifference aesthetics, the provisional and the conventional nature, the importance of audience’s perceptual spaces ,and the non-existence of real infinity which is the result of the influence of the Poincaré’s thoughts on both of them and is interpreted as ‘systemic chance’ or ‘absolute chance.’ Their difference also lies on Duchamp’s scientific origins (Poincaré’s thoughts) and Cage’s spiritual origins )Zen Buddhism). Hence ,the influence of Poincaré’s thoughts on Cage can be divided into two periods :before Duchamp’s death (Chaos theory, Topology, Non-Euclidean geometry, and N-dimensional spaces )and after that( eclipse Poincaré’s Thoughts with Zen, Prajña, and Satori, )which ultimately ends up solving Poincaré thought in Zen.