Maa: A Ballet by Kaija Saariaho

(Miller Theatre, 25 September 2010)

The prevailing laws of physics, which make life possible, are highly improbable. Even though any other, potential, universe would seem unrecognisable to us, statistically it may deviate minimally from ours. Often, contemporary art represents such potential notions of beauty, plausible and minimally different from the received notion---but ugly. Ugly art helps one understand the native by portraying the foreign. Such art is akin to a poem submitted for publication by a skilful alien, unaware that his language resembles C++ more than English. Such an inhuman work makes a human appreciate the human---as Luca Veggetti's ballet does.

The dancers' movements are strained and serve no purpose. Why move at all? Perhaps, the bodies do not move by their own volition. The characters are absently self-absorbed. They move and touch out of habit, betraying no emotion. Their bodies are vacant. The sadness of the characters' situation is in their inability and unwillingness to fully utilise their bodies (the dancers' skill and effort notwithstanding).

When faced with such an alien production, one can try to appreciate the alien artist; one can even grant him  the benefit of the doubt by supposing that he finds the work beautiful, and, then, try to appreciate that beauty; or one can seek the missing component that is necessary for beauty. The attraction of the first and second alternatives in encounters with contemporary art is less than in encounters with foreign cultures; a culture has its constituency, a piece of art may not.

"Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality" by Manjit Kumar (2008)

Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Bohr, and Einstein each, with near-religious conviction, believed in his own version of reality, despite no experimental evidence could discriminate among them. The physicists' debate was not futile, however. Even though the application of existing knowledge is unaffected by the fiction behind equations, the advancement of future science is. Speculations about the unobserved reality help generate new hypotheses and prioritise pending experiments. Furthermore, even if, say, Heisenberg were unsure about the verity of his vision (which he, a scientist, must have been), the society would nonetheless want him to passionately advocate that vision, thereby encouraging others to harness their arguments.

"Red Plenty" by Francis Spufford (2010)

Many things in a society can go wrong; most do. It is a theory of why something ever goes right that is wanting---a theory without the air of Jane Austenesque inevitability to it. "Red Plenty" tells how coercion, intimidation, and delusion can dress, feed, educate, and house. The employed centralised control is liable to manipulation by all, including those lacking pro-social disposition. Hence, the requisite coördination should better be achieved by a minimally centralised system. Instead of being itself centrally imposed, the system must spread by contagion, through revolution or---most reliably---evolution.

Individual liberty not only prevents the wrong but also nourishes the right, as is best described in Chapter "Midsummer Night, 1962." Liberty enables the like-minded to identify and inspire each other.

Colorama

(George Eastman House, 18 September 2010)

"Alps Skiers with Airplane, Near the Matterphorn in Switzerland" (January 27--February 17, 1964). In her beskied husband's plain view, a beskied woman shoots her husband's best friend (skies erect), posing in front of a  smooth red-and-white aeroplane aiming at the woman and positioned at a slight angle to the barely spoilt sheets of snow below, creased in the background to form the pillows of a mountain range---Alps, apparently. All four involved maintain a gentlemanly distance and leave it to the redness of their fuselages to convey the intensity of their encounter. "Couple in Blossoms at Bronx Botanical Gardens" (February 19--March 11, 1968). A woman---a kodak in her hands---rests her eyes on a flower bed. A man seeks to relive the woman's emotion by gazing at the spot just exposed on her kodak's film. "Portuguese Fishing Village, Nazare, Portugal" (August 9--August 30, 1965). Soaked in a setting sun's warmth that only a glass of wine can furnish, an American couple, installed on a balcony overlooking the sea, frame the shared memories of what later will be identified as the footage of their designated dream.

When one would have kissed before, one has been stepping ten feet away and taking a picture since then. When one would have diverted the eyes and looked down before, one has been boldly aiming the camera and taking a picture since then. When one would have used a drink to appreciate the world in all its over-saturated tones before, one has been loading a film and releasing the shutter since then. One was in no obligation to live a dream any more, it was enough to look a dream when cued by a photographer.

Then, the over-saturated colours, elaborate hairdos, and grow-ups' clothes went out of style. Broadcasting oneself---free from one's dream---took over amateur photography.