Photography, Physics, and Complexity

154 Pages·2011·6.83 MB·English

Photography, Physics, and Complexity:
Strange Bedfellows or a New Aesthetic?
Morrison House Presentation, August 2011
…with just a little bit of tao sprinkled in!
Andy Ilachinski
[email protected]
571-217-8198
http://www.sudden-stillness.com
http://tao-of-digital-photography.blogspot.com
Preamble
What am I here to talk about?
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By day… At all other times
(that often intrude on the day)…
I am a physicist, specializing
I am a photographer, who forgets
in chaos, complex systems.
and mathematical modeling all about physics, complexity,
photography, even my “I”
Preamble
What am I here to talk about?
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I’m hBeyr dea tyo… (attempt to) deAstc arlilb oet hwehr atitm tehse
(that often intrude on the day)…
world that exists at the cusp of these two realms looks like
I am a physicist, specializing
I am a photographer, who forgets
in chaos, complex systems.
from the point of view of one ineffable “I”
and mathematical modeling all about physics, complexity,
(and to show a few photographs along the way ;-)
photography, even my “I”
What is this talk about?
Photography
The art of capturing what a “thing” is
to communicate what else a thing is
Physics
The science of distilling perceived
order into simplest possible form
Complexity
Self-organized emergence of global
order that arises from local simplicity
• Who decides what is “order”?
Themes / • Aesthetics ( “order principle”), patterns, emergence
local vs. global, self-reference/organization, dynamics,
Questions
multidimensional spaces, objective vs. subjective
• What does observed order say about the observer?
Let’s cut right to the chase
Physics and photography both define and revel in
categories, divisions, groupings, labels, orders, and partitions;
Let’s cut right to the chase
Physics and photography both define and revel in
categories, divisions, groupings, labels, orders, and partitions;
An artist is a meta-pattern
of subjective order
GjonMili, Life Magazine (1949)
Let’s cut right to the chase
Physics and photography both define and revel in
categories, divisions, groupings, labels, orders, and partitions;
An artist is a meta-pattern
of subjective order
A physicist is a meta-pattern
of “objective order”
http://insidetheclassics.myminnesoGtjaoonrcMhielis,t Lriaf.eo Mrga/wgapz-icnoen (t1e9n4t/9u)ploads/2011/01/formulas_440.jpg
Let’s cut right to the chase
Physics and photography both define and revel in
categories, divisions, groupings, labels, orders, and partitions;
AAnr ta rist itsht eis t ara mnsectean-pdaetntecren
of osuf bsujebcjteicvtei vcea toergdoerries
A physicist is a meta-pattern
of “objective order”
Kandinsky, "First Abstract Watercolor“ (1910 / 1911 ?)
http://insidetheclassics.myminnesoGtjaoonrcMhielis,t Lriaf.eo Mrga/wgapz-icnoen (t1e9n4t/9u)ploads/2011/01/formulas_440.jpg
Let’s cut right to the chase
Physics and photography both define and revel in
categories, divisions, groupings, labels, orders, and partitions;
AAnr ta rist itsht eis t ara mnsectean-pdaetntecren
of osuf bsujebcjteicvtei vcea toergdoerries
A physicist is a meta-pattern
Physics is a reduction / distillation
of “objective order”
of “objective categories”
Kandinsky, "First Abstract Watercolor“ (1910 / 1911 ?)
http://insidetheclassics.myminnesoGtjaoonrcMhielis,t Lriaf.eo Mrga/wgapz-icnoen (t1e9n4t/9u)ploads/2011/01/formulas_440.jpg
Let’s cut right to the chase
Physics and photography both define and revel in
categories, divisions, groupings, labels, orders, and partitions;
Complexity and Tao
remind us of the
AAnr ta rist itsht eis t ara mnsectean-pdaetntecren
absurdity of dividing
of osuf bsujebcjteicvtei vcea toergdoerries
the world in this way! 
A physicist is a meta-pattern
Physics is a reduction / distillation
of “objective order”
of “objective categories”
Tatsuya Ishida (http://sinfest.net/comikaze/comics/2010-02-01.gif)
Kandinsky, "First Abstract Watercolor“ (1910 / 1911 ?)
http://insidetheclassics.myminnesoGtjaoonrcMhielis,t Lriaf.eo Mrga/wgapz-icnoen (t1e9n4t/9u)ploads/2011/01/formulas_440.jpg