No subject

[integer at www.god-emil.dk]

 >She signed, she said, because she was spending her day outside in the
 >lovely Saturday weather, and she simply wants to have a good time without
 >confrontations.
 
 2x = 2x +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ... tetrated
 
 
 
 nn \ nn  =sine(x
 
 
 
 From: "Kermit Snelson" <ksnelson at subjectivity.com>
 To: <nettime-l at bbs.thing.net>
 Subject: <nettime> art as law in Berkeley, USA
 Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 11:44:22 -0700
 Sender: nettime-l-request at bbs.thing.net
 Precedence: bulk
 Reply-To: "Kermit Snelson" <ksnelson at subjectivity.com>
 Status:   
 
 Identity politics reaches a whole new level..
 
 Kermit
 ======
 
 Aristotle's law in Berkeley
 Petition confounds blase city
 
 San Francisco Chronicle
 Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer
 Tuesday, August 13, 2002
 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/08/13/BAARISTOTLE.TMP&nl=t
 op
 
 Berkeley, the first city to ban Styrofoam and wood-fired pizza ovens,
 could become the first to enact Aristotle's ancient law of logic -- that
 every entity is equal to itself.
 
 In a philosophical effort to come up with a city law that no one could
 ever break, conceptual artist Jonathon Keats wants Berkeley to legally
 acknowledge Aristotle's law, commonly expressed as A=A.
 
 More plainly put, it means a table is a table. A blade of grass is a blade
 of grass.  The mayor is the mayor.
 
 Mayor Shirley Dean was dumbfounded.
 
 "I haven't a clue what that means," Dean said of Keats' proposition.
 
 Few others did either as Keats tried to get them to sign his sidewalk
 petition Saturday near the downtown Berkeley BART station.
 
 "Why do you need a law to say that?" asked one passer-by.
 
 Sweating in a three-piece wool suit, bow tie and penny loafers, Keats
 explained that a simplistic law challenges society's notion of what laws
 are, why they are made, and why we follow them.
 
 It makes perfect sense to Keats, who is the kind of guy who likes to do
 things like sit in an art gallery for 24 hours and sell his thoughts to
 museumgoers.  The San Francisco Arts Commission once paid him to do
 portraits, and because he can't paint, draw or take good photographs, he
 took fingerprints instead.
 
 His latest A=A idea, timed to coincide with the annual Berkeley Arts
 Festival, was a harder sell.  His six-hour effort netted 65 signatures, 42
 of which belonged to actual Berkeley residents.
 
 There were many head-shakers, a couple of yellers, and a handful of people
 who signed just to get away from Keats' long discourses on tautology --
 which is a fancy word for A=A theory.  One guy shouted that Keats needed
 therapy.
 
 Keats offered to do sidewalk therapy with the man, who stomped away in
 frustration.
 
 "I see the law I've proposed as an (art) installation, one which has the
 potential to operate in infinite space while occupying no space," said the
 30-year-old performance artist, who lives in San Francisco.
 
 "I offer it as a donation to the people of Berkeley," Keats said.
 
 Michelle Grisat, who has a doctorate in philosophy, signed.
 
 "I think A=A is a basic truism, and it's interesting to have him out here
 arguing with people."
 
 Keats plans to present his petition to the City Council when it reconvenes
 in September.  He wants the council to place the proposal on the November
 ballot for a vote.
 
 Although his law can't be broken, a misdemeanor fine of up to one-tenth of
 a cent would be imposed on anyone or anything caught being unidentical to
 itself within city limits.
 
 "All laws have rules, so mine needs them, too," he said.
 
 Myrna Sokolinksy listened, trying to bend her brain around his logic.
 
 "It's silly, but I'll sign anyway," she said.
 
 She signed, she said, because she was spending her day outside in the
 lovely Saturday weather, and she simply wants to have a good time without
 confrontations.
 
 As with any philosophical question, A=A is already generating scholarly
 debate.  The proposed law has been vetted by Yale philosophy scholar
 Matthew D. Walker, and noted Amherst College logician Alexander George has
 praised A=A as "the simplest of identity's properties."
 
 But a philosophy professor at UC Berkeley isn't even sure A=A is the
 brainchild of Aristotle.
 
 "It's a bit of a stretch to attribute it to Aristotle," said John
 MacFarlane.
 
 MacFarlane also took issue with Point C in the proposed law which defines
 identical as "exactly alike."  He said two people could be wearing shirts
 that are "exactly alike" but not identical.
 
 "A does not equal A, and I can prove it!" shouted Elliot Clayton, who
 rushed to Keats' card table.
 
 "Look at your own petition!  There's a capital A and a small case a, all
 throughout it.  See?  A is sometimes a, not A."
 
 ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle