“Much of the debate between Einstein and Bohr revolved around Einstein’s intuitive rejection of the implication of the Copenhagen interpretation – which is that objective reality, independent of any observer, doesn’t really exist. Bohr, by contrast (and sounding a lot like Wittgenstein), insisted that physics isn’t concerned with what is but solely with what we can say about it “
Tag: 05.23.10
The Usefulness Of Modern Monarchs
“The tumultuous past two months in world politics have brought a surprise with them: Suddenly, monarchy seems relevant again.” The royals of Sweden and the Netherlands have taken an active role in reducing native-vs.-immigrant tensions; Bhutan’s king brought both elections and modern telecommunications to his tiny nation; Belgium’s King Albert II sometimes seems to be the only thing keeping the country from breaking up.
Dancing About Bugsy Siegel
“[Choreographer Melissa] Barak admitted the subject [of a notorious Vegas mobster] is unusual for a ballet. Even more exceptional is that she has chosen to make a story ballet with dialogue. Nine of the 30 dancers will speak.”
A Performance Artist On Re-Performing Abramovic
“Imponderabilia [in which two nude performers stand flanking a narrow doorway] is not as still as the other pieces. When people walk through, you’re constantly readjusting, a little bit here, a little bit there. The intent or the energy or the aggressiveness of the audience becomes very visible.”
Arthur C. Danto On Sitting Opposite Marina Abramovic
“Marina leaned her head back at a slight angle, and to one side. She fixed her eyes on me without — so it seemed — any longer seeing me. It was as if she had entered another state. I was outside her gaze. Her face took on the translucence of fine porcelain. She was luminous without being incandescent.”
One Century On, Mark Twain’s Memoirs To Be Published
The author “left behind 5,000 unedited pages of memoirs when he died in 1910, together with handwritten notes saying that he did not want them to hit bookshops for at least a century. … [I]n November the University of California, Berkeley, where the manuscript is in a vault, will release the first volume of Mark Twain’s autobiography.”
Anna Deavere Smith’s Border Conversations
“Two years ago, before the last presidential election, I interviewed people living and working in Phoenix and at the Arizona-Mexico border, and much of what I heard then echoes strongly in the debate over the Arizona law. Even then, as I sat at office desks, or in living rooms, or outside at picnic tables, the words were dramatic.”
After Years Of Shrinking, Indie Booksellers Grow (Barely)
“The rise [in American Booksellers Association membership] is tiny, from 1,401 a year ago to 1,410, but a deluge in comparison to the past two decades, when membership dropped from more than 3,000 to last year’s low.” The ABA’s chief executive “credits last year’s turnaround mostly to the smarts of the independent community and a willingness to experiment.”
Ghostwriters & Pols: A Reasonable Marriage
“It makes sense that, when confronted with the complex systems that produce, promote and sell books, we need to isolate one element: whether to idolize (The Author) or condemn (ghostwriting). But this impulse causes us to miss the more pressing problems in our political book culture.”
Why Would Someone Steal Art They Can’t Sell?
“This is certainly the biggest theft from a French museum in a very long time. It’s incomprehensible to me because these works are absolutely unsalable. There isn’t an art dealer on the market who would buy them.”