dexterity or hand-jive

Yesterday on the news, I learned about a project and an exhibition that is coming to an end that illustrated the nuanced relationship among humans and machines through one purpose-built scribe. For several months, a robotic-arm from a research laboratory in Karlsruhe has been reproducing the Luther Bible in an early Renaissance hand on a very long, continuous scroll of parchment. Visitors to the exhibition were able to watch the robot in action, and this is not the first time that the research company has offered man-machine engagements meant to spur the imagination and blur preconceptions about interaction, including several parties hosted by robotic disc-jockeys.

I am not sure what the difference is between the written word and the printing-press in terms of (faithful) reproduction, but there is something about the technical acumen and tirelessness that's very alien to the dedication and errata of monks in a scriptorium. Coincidentally, after learning of this robotic feat Atlas Obscura featured in some of newly added destinations a related project from human-hands. Britain's Royal Calligrapher is determined to produce the first complete illuminated manuscript of the Bible since the invention of the printed word. Not being an automaton, the endeavour is taking some time and is yet incomplete, though one can marvel at the heft and artistry of the progress. The calligrapher designed a unique font and has illustrated hundreds of capitals and margins for the undertaking as well, and without volition, this is something a machine could never do. I wonder, however, if one could tell the difference between human creativity and a machine survey of the history of human art and orthography for an approximation of imagination, and notwithstanding technical perfection and fatigue, would we be able to tell the difference and what would that mean. I guess those are the kinds of questions such spectacles ask.

sexagennial or diamond jubilee

Her Majesty, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor Batten-berg,  Queen of Ireland and the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Man, Duke of Normandy, &c. is celebrating the beginning of her sixtieth year on the throne, and plans extensive tours this year to celebrate her legacy and reconfirm her commitment to her subjects. She has seen and overseen a great deal of transformation in her domain, public and private, and has remained dedicated and engaged, reserved and steadfast, and bound as much by ceremony and traditions which certainly bear further study, continues to be an inspiration. That an institution and a personality can weather with grace and determination six decades of change that has over-turned many others is certainly an impressive feat.  Joining millions of other well-wishers, I hope that the Queen's professionalism and service endures for years to come.

docking bay 94 or suitable for framing

Via Boing Boing and Neat-o-Rama, the galleries at Tor.com have curated an outstanding collection of modern art reinterpreted with science-fiction movie themes.

These two works from John Mattos, first reimagining Pablo Picasso's the Three Musicians with the Figrin D'an Band and other elements from the Cantina at Mos Eisley and then Marcel Duchamp's iconic abstract painting with C-3PO descending a staircase, are among the best.

what time is it, ma?

Why, it's Deco Time! We're presenting a new blog that H has put together that will feature some of our antique finds along with educational resources and reference material. It is still in the developmental stages, but it is sure to showcase some fun and fine stuff.

retracta and rokovania

I wonder sometimes whether journalism is investigative, self-promoting or merely stumbled upon. I suspect that it is usually the later, rather than the first, and sometimes more notice is made of the breach, the pass rather than keeping to the ceremony of record-keeping and minutes-taking. The nearly universal ascension to the ACTA (EN/DE) treaty happened without notice nor a blip on the RADAR of main-stream journalism and only the rage and defiance of a few brave and informed souls in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. Now, a bit wiser but still without the leave of the news, protests are being staged in London and other capitals against some of the provisions of the treaty, including in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.

The Slovenian signatory, the ambassador to Japan, has released a public apology (in English), first to her children and then to her fellow-citizens for having committed their futures to such a far-reaching atrocity in one of the most articulate, heart-felt and honest statements from a politician that I have had the pleasure of reading in some time. All statecrafters ought to take note. It is the public's duty to snoop around what makes the headlines and is writ large and one cannot rely on go-to journalism to reveal every back-room deal that is coming out of Davos, the EU Parliament or the US Congress, which have all been scuttled in the media as something dull and irrelevant by design, but some of the terms of ACTA would make such snooping harder, and hopefully these rallies can draw the needed attention to what national leaders are consigning their people to.

dibba, dubai, abu dhabi

Tensions mounting over the flow of traffic through that potential choke-point of the Strait of Hormuz come from a wide array of trajectories, with a lot of significance and history not only in tow but also projecting, deferring antagonism into some imagined and virtual future. The arts, cultures, diplomacies, histories and scholarship of the people of Persia, as it is for a lot of other peoples of the region, have been saddled with a great unplumbed and sad ignorance on the part of many outsiders and reckon their story only begins with twilight colonialism and the framework of shoves and tugs of foreign policy.

Though quick to forget and disinclined to learn, Iran’s choices in self-determination come in spite of international manipulation, and rather than because of whatever outsiders attribute to the attested doctrine of deterrence of the country. There is a sophisticated technical and scientific community in Iran, and were such a group gathered elsewhere, I think, no accusations of violence would muddle the research. Furthermore, although much different in character and circumstance, with an eye to the past, I would not be surprised if out of the massing armada or lands just out of range there did not come a dubious and distorted casus belli, like the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that lead Vietnam Conflict and the irrevocable license against Communist aggression. What is going against the traffic is the projections and predictions--the congestion of the present standoff careering head on with abstract and hypothetical contingencies and future threats of embargoes (and consequent shortages) that (both) won't come into effect for months.  These conflicts coming from different and undefined vectors are what creates tension and obstacles to understanding.