Professor Wittgenstein informs us on the mathematical problems of what is called the foundations of mathematics. The lecture develops into a drama where Wittgenstein takes on the role of Mephisto and his former student Alan Turing that of the character of Doctor Faustus. Turing, the famous mathematician and inventor of the basic concept of artificial intelligence (on = 1 = true and off = 0 = false), is like Faustus, who says, "I have made it but have I a soul to pay for it?", as he's searching to understand the paradox of determinism and free will. In the midst of the conflict Mephisto shouts to Faustus: "You have deceived me and I am never deceived". The conflict, inspired by Gertrude Stein's play 'Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights' (1938), is the starting point for our exploration. Wittgenstein maintained that mathematics was fundamentally just another kind of grammar, containing no more truth than the structure of language can be said to be true. Turing on the other hand, argued that the beauty of mathematics lay precisely in its power to provide unassailable truths, in an otherwise uncertain world. As the story unfolds we encounter a number of other characters such as the Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov and Krazy Kat cartoon figures like Betty Boop. The play seems only a vehicle for Zoe Beloff to stage her romantic parable. "Where Where There There Where" is an inquiry into the relationship between technology and imagination. A homage to the beginning of this century when scientists and artists went hand in hand, discovering the artistic, philosophical and pragmatic boundaries of the old analogue world. By using QuickTime Virtual Reality Panoramas and QuickTime movies, she attempts to find a visual equivalent of the transition from 19th century industrial mechanics to 20th century computer architecture.
– Miklós Beyer
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Zoe Beloff ° 1958, Edinburgh (Scotland)
Lives and works in New York (USA)
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