#david fathi

[getparticulr]

Wolfgang by David Fathi

davidfathi.com

via WIRED

[thinkingimages]

David Fathi – Wolfgang

Statement

Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, one of the founders of quantum physics, was nicknamed the “Conscience of Physics”. But he was also known among his peers for something a bit less “scientific”.

Legend says that when Pauli entered a room, experiments would fail and machinery would break down. His colleagues jokingly called this phenomenon “The Pauli Effect”.

CERN recently released their photo archive spanning thirty years of cutting edge research. Even though Pauli died shortly before this archive started his presence still lingers; on a bust, a blackboard, a portrait, a book etc. This series is a semi-fiction where the Pauli Effect continues to haunt everyday life at CERN. Using and manipulating the archives, searching for experiments, accidents and Pauli’s presence.

Science isn’t fiction, science is weirder than fiction. Teleportation, ubiquity, levitation, spontaneous appearance. Inconceivable on a human scale, but totally logical on the scale of elementary particles. Working in the field of quantum mechanics is a wild ride, and even though the mythical Pauli Effect was a private joke among highly scientific minds, some of them were nonetheless superstitious enough to ban Wolfgang Pauli from even entering their lab.

In quantum physics as well as in photography, the act of observing is not a neutral act. It participates in the outcome of a scene. These photos are sometimes real, sometimes completely fabricated. The observer is actor in fixing what is science and what is myth.

All images from the CERN Photo Archive 1960-1985, manipulations by the artist. + info: David Fathi – Wolfgang | Silver Magazine

[thephotoregistry]

From Wolfgang

David Fathi

[francisgan]

Mining the photo archives of CERN came as a revelation for David Fathi when he chanced on the peculiar tale of a Nobel Prize-winning physicist with a most terrible case of bad juju. His final edit - a mix of manipulated images and unaltered originals - weaves an amusing narrative wherein facts and superstition can exist side by side even among the best of rational minds.

[theinnocentcuriosity]

David Fathi: Anecdotal (review)

Anecdotal is inspired by the two explosions of atomic bombs in Japan and later nuclear tests carried out during the Cold War. This was also the focus of 100 Suns, a body of documentary photographs by Michael Light, which showed the actual explosions. David Fathi adopts a different approach than Light. As far as the text is concerned, the book is a collection of funny and, at the same time, scary anecdotes about the ‘backstage' and the aftermath of the nuclear tests. We learn from the short texts about missing bombs, accidental explosions, unnecessary irradiations, unexplained deaths, and many other occurrences not to the liking of official propaganda (irrespective of the superpower responsible).

Some of the stories are so absurd that it is hard to believe they really happened. Yet, tragic as the events may be, their abstract nature makes it hard for us to sympathize. As Stanley Kubrick – who is cited towards the end of the book – recollected, "people do not react to abstractions, they only react to direct experience”. Kubrick was also right to say that an A-bomb is “as abstract as the fact you know that someday you will die. It's something that you know, but you really do an excellent job of denying it psychologically."

The above stories are interweaved with pictures. Yet, you will be unable to find among them any evidence meant to prove that the above events actually happened. Rather the visual narrative is a series of images loosely corresponding to the topic. They are subdivided into several categories, including collages, film sequences, aerial photographs and product photographs. The pictures, which depict maps, airplanes, strange devices and people looking up into the sky imply the events that happened, but do not show them directly. They stir our imagination, even though they are, at times, just as abstract as the texts.

The neat sequence is based on recurrent and intertwined motifs. To me, the narration proceeds in a manner that is perhaps too mathematical, mechanical. What is missing in the book are elements that would puzzle you, knock you out of the rhythm. Still, you get ever more immersed in the book, intrigued by its absurdity, which is build by the author in an aware and consistent manner.

Rating: Good (4/6)

David Fathi: Anecdotal, hardcover, 23 x 16 cm, 108 pages, Maria Inc. 2015

///

„Anecdotal” zainspirowane jest dwoma wybuchami bomb atomowych w Japonii oraz późniejszymi próbami nuklearnymi, które odbywały się w czasie Zimnej wojny. Temu fenomenowi poświęcony był m.in. cykl „100 suns” Michaela Lighta. Artysta skupił się na archiwalnych zdjęciach, będących dokumentacją wybuchów. David Fathi podszedł do tematu inaczej. W warstwie tekstowej jego książka jest zbiorem śmieszno-strasznych anegdot opowiadających o kulisach i następstwach prób jądrowych. Z krótkich tekstów dowiadujemy się o zaginionych bombach, przypadkowych wybuchach, niepotrzebnych napromieniowaniach, niewyjaśnionych zgonach i szeregu innych wydarzeń, które nigdy nie mieściły się w ramach rządowej propagandy (bez względu na to, które mocarstwo było za nie odpowiedzialne).

Niektóre historie są tak absurdalne, że trudno uwierzyć, że zdarzyły się naprawdę. W gruncie rzeczy to tragiczne wydarzenia, jednak ich abstrakcyjny charakter utrudnia nam wczucie się w nie. Ludziom trudno jest reagować na abstrakcje, dużo łatwiej jest im odnieść się do własnego doświadczenia - wspomina cytowany pod koniec książki Stanley Kubrick. Trudno się również z nim nie zgodzić, kiedy pisze, że bomba atomowa jest tak samo abstrakcyjna jak śmierć. Niby o niej wiemy, ale żyjemy tak jakby jej nie było. Jesteśmy mistrzami w ignorowaniu tej informacji.

Powyższe historie przeplatane są zdjęciami. Próżno jednak szukać pośród nich dowodów potwierdzających prawdziwość opisanych wypadków. To raczej seria obrazów luźno nawiązujących do tematu. Podzielone są one na kilka kategorii. Znalazły się wśród nich kolaże, filmowe sekwencje, zdjęcia lotnicze i fotografie produktowe. Fotografie przedstawiające mapy, samoloty, dziwne urządzenia oraz ludzi wpatrzonych w niebo sugerują nam wydarzenia, do których doszło, ale nie odwołują się do nich bezpośrednio. Pobudzają naszą wyobraźnię, chociaż są czasami równie abstrakcyjne jak teksty.

Zgrabna sekwencja oparta jest na powracających i przeplatających się motywach. Moim zdaniem narracja poprowadzona jest nawet w odrobinę zbyt matematyczny, mechaniczny sposób. Brakuje elementów, które zaskakują, wybijają z rytmu, którego książce nie brakuje. Mimo tego "Anecdotal” wciąga nas swoim absurdalnym charakterem, który jest zbudowany świadomie i konsekwentnie.

Ocena: Dobra (4/6)

David Fathi: Anecdotal, twarda oprawa, 23 x 16 cm, 108 stron, Maria Inc. 2015

[nikonowicz]

Today’s inspiration: David Fathi

http://www.davidfathi.com/wolfgang.php

[hiswordza]

Letters from the inside: Solitary confinement in the US - The Listening Post (Feature)

Letters from the inside: Solitary confinement in the US – The Listening Post (Feature)

It’s been called one of the biggest human rights issues Americans have never heard of. More than 80,000 people in the US are held in solitary confinement on any given day, with underreporting being one of the main issues for the lack of information about conditions and effects. Not only does the media rarely get access, but popular…

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[hiswordza]

Did the UK media help make Brexit a reality? - The Listening Post (Full)

Did the UK media help make Brexit a reality? – The Listening Post (Full)

On The Listening Post this week: Did the UK media do their job before the EU vote? Has the tone of the coverage shifted since? Plus, the coverage of solitary confinement in US. Did British media show Brexit bias? It has been more than a week since the UK voted to leave the European Union and the story continues to dominate the…

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