Sunday 28 February 2010

My life towards thermal equilibrium

I'm amazed I just got the origin of the universe “explained” within an hour. Among other things, in this talk Sean Carroll first clearly explains the reason behind entropy: the future is one of possibilities, always more than a moment ago. The system is therefor much more likely to go forward through time and possibilities, than return to a more orderly state. It expresses itself as a force of form-creation and biological life, while at the same time inevitably exhausting itself into a dead cold future of thermal equilibrium. He then refutes Boltzmann's multiverse proposal to explain the origin of the order of the primal past (bigbang). The big a!-ha!-aha!-haha!-erlebnis came for me when he explained that the dead future is where we might have come from. Multiverse version 2 in a way, where the state of the (parent) universe, forced into maximalized entropic potential first, but then by the same statistical joke of life (entropy), becomes the ideal fertile ground for singularities to spawn new baby universes.

So I wonder, where is our universe now? adult yet? pre-teen? old and wizened? Or more importantly, are we ready to spawn baby universes of our own?

Part 1
Part 2

Speaking at the University of Sydney, acclaimed physicist and cosmologist Sean Carroll gives an entertaining and thought-provoking talk about the nature of time, the origin of entropy and how what happened before the Big Bang might be responsible for the arrow of time we observe today. Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in 1993 from Harvard University and has previously worked at MIT. He is the author several acclaimed books. CHAST 2009 Templeton Lecture, University of Sydney

Wednesday 27 January 2010

ceci n'est pas une émission de télevision



by Fausto delle Chiaie

Tuesday 26 January 2010

First OuUnPo meeting 23.1.2010

Sunday 17 January 2010

Ouunpo Ouvroir d’Univers Potentiel Saturday, 23 January 2010, Rome.




Ouunpo
Ouvroir d’Univers Potentiel

Saturday, 23 January 2010
2:00-6:00 pm
MACRO, via Reggio Emilia 54

Please join us for the first meeting of the newly founded Ouunpo, taking place in Rome. You’re more than welcome to enroll in one of the following sections, or just drop in while the meeting is in progress.


Share ideas with Oounpo members Meris Angioletti, Daniele Balit, Yane Calovski, Cecilia Canziani, Jacob Dahl Jürgensen, Adrienne Drake, Mark Geffriaud, Raimundas Malasauskas, Darius Miksys, Jacopo Miliani, Daniela Paes Leao, Samon Takahashi, Stephen Whitmarsh!

Creation
is the first and most important section. New methods of experimentation are discussed, with descriptions and examples, and Ouunpo members will talk about new ideas for projects. A constraint can be presented by one or more Oounpo members. Many constraints can also generate complements, variations, renovations.

Rumination
is the section in which possible, ‘not yet worked out’ projects are examined. Here, ideas of new constraints are discussed, though they are still not developed enough to produce a work and, consequently, to be part of the previous section.
A part of the ruminations are also reflections on fundamental oulipian notions: constraint, potential, etc.

Erudition
is a conversation about works by non Ouunpo members. In this section works that were created before the existence of Ouunpo are presented. The authors of these works are called “plagiarizers by anticipation”.
It is not unusual that an erudition, after discussion and adaptation, leads the workshop towards one or more creations.

Action, past and Future
features Ouunpo activities around the globe. All actions that have been staged outside of the workshop (public lectures, commissions, etc) are recalled and discussed in order to be evaluated and to list the next scheduled or interventions.

Small Talk or Gossip
Well, that’s straightforward enough!


Notes:
Oounpo is the final step in If you don’t want god you’d better have a multiverse, an itinerant project which explores the concepts of time, space and the role of subjectivity. The project intends to address art as place where these concepts can be translated into form and become the location for interplay between artists, curators, academics and the public.

Ouunpo is a play upon Oulipo: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle (“workshop of potential literature"), a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais, while other notable members include novelists Georges Perec, Italo Calvino and Hervé Le Tellier, poet Oskar Pastior and poet/mathematician Jacques Roubaud. The group defines the term 'littérature potentielle' as: "the seeking of new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy."
Constraints are used as a means of triggering ideas and inspiration. As well as established techniques, such as lipograms and palindromes, the group devises new techniques, often based on mathematical problems such as the Knight's Tour of the chess-board and permutations. Oounpo works in the same way, though its primary concern is visual art.

If you don’t want god you’d better have a multiverse is produced and organised by 1:1projects in collaboration with Vision Forum and KSM Linköpings Universitet, Sweden.

Partners Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; press to exit project space, Skopje
Supported by KSM Linköpings Universitet, Danish Arts Council, Mondriaan Foundation

Wednesday 6 January 2010

toward ouunpo: oulipo's agenda (les rubriques)

here's the structure of an oulipo meeting, according to a description found on this blog :

First up is 'Creation', where a new method of experimentation is discussed, with descriptions and examples. Then comes 'Rumination', where possible creations 'not yet worked out' are examined. Then is 'Erudition', a conversation about works by writers not members. And lastly, 'Action, past and Future', which features Oulipion activities around the globe, and lastly, 'Small Talk'.

...'Small Talk' is better known as 'Gossip'

In French, I have found a longer and slightly different description:


Les rubriques à l’ordre du jour des réunions sont les suivantes :


CRÉATION. C’est la première
et la plus importante des rubriques.
Il est obligatoire, sous peine de nullité
de la réunion, qu’il y ait au moins
une intervention sous cette rubrique.
Un oulipien présente
une contrainte nouvelle, accompagnée
au moins d’un exemple. Cette
présentation est suivie d’une discussion
générale, pouvant aboutir à un vote
de félicitations, qui sera porté au compte
rendu. Une contrainte peut être
présentée conjointement par plusieurs
oulipiens. La plupart des contraintes
peuvent donner lieu à une descendance :
compléments, variations,
renouvellements.


RUMINATION. Cette rubrique
accueille les idées de contraintes
nouvelles lorsqu’elles ne sont pas encore
assez élaborées pour produire un texte ;
et donc pour fi gurer sous la rubrique
précédente. Prennent place aussi parmi
les ruminations toutes les réfl exions
théoriques sur les notions oulipiennes
de base : contrainte, potentialité, etc.


ÉRUDITION. Cette rubrique permet
de présenter des textes sous contraintes
écrits par des auteurs antérieurs
à la création de l’Oulipo, justement
dénommés « plagiaires par anticipation »,
ou « plant(s) ». Il n’est pas rare
qu’une érudition, après discussion
et adaptation, mette l’Ouvroir sur la voie
d’une ou de plusieurs créations. Il arrive
aussi que des oulipiens soient leurs
propres « plants », autrement dit qu’une
contrainte présentée à une réunion
soit à nouveau présentée ultérieurement,
parfois par le même oulipien.


PUBLICATIONS. Cette rubrique
permet de faire le point sur les
publications individuelles ou collectives,
en cours ou en projet : publications
sous la signature de l’Oulipo,
publications individuelles de chaque
oulipien, numéros de La Bibliothèque
oulipienne.


FINANCES. Cette rubrique permet
au trésorier de faire l’état de la trésorerie.


ACTIONS PASSÉES. Cette rubrique
permet de rappeler les diverses actions
qui ont pu être menées à l’extérieur
de l’Ouvroir depuis la précédente
réunion – lectures publiques, stages
oulipiens, commandes –, et d’en tirer
les conclusions.


ACTIONS FUTURES. Cette rubrique
permet de faire la liste des interventions
prévues, ou à prévoir.


SITE. Cette rubrique, nouvellement
créée, permet de suivre
le développement du site offi ciel
de l’Oulipo.www.oulipo.net


MENUS PROPOS. Cette rubrique
permet d’évoquer tout ce qui n’a pu
prendre place avant.


PROCHAINE RÉUNION. Choix de
la date, du lieu et de l’heure pour le mois
suivant.