Re: <nettime> art as law in Berkeley, USA

Berkeley, my earth, my blood, how do I love thee? Let me count thy ways.


Max Herman
http://albalux.com/g2k/pv/viewer.php?img=lg/002.jpg&viewtitle=002



In a message dated 8/13/2002 7:01:40 PM Central Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:


> Subj:<nettime> art as law in Berkeley, USA
> Date:8/13/2002 7:01:40 PM Central Daylight Time
> From:<A HREF="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]=
om</A>
> To:<A HREF="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</A>
> Sent from the Internet
>
>
>
> 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 he=
re
> 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."
>
>