The slightest events in the present can have a significant impact on the future.
They affect systems in a state of unstable equilibrium.
Bridges, chemical plants, nuclear power stations, people ...
Image courtesy of European Cultural Centre-Italy
Earth-Messenger
In ancient Egypt, the so-called Tehen pillars represented the link between the earthly and celestial realms. Rulers had architects erect towering obelisks to symbolize their power.
Through this mystical life-sized object, the visitor can send a message back to Earth.
The touchscreen display features a keyboard that enables a personalized manual entry. A laser then beams the encoded text from the tip of the obelisk.
Depending on one’s discretion and disposition, the visitor can send out individual wishes, caution politicians, dole out advice, berate dictators, express regret or spread optimism.
The message consists of more than 1018 photons. These are disseminated almost simultaneously over the entire Earth. Converted to the surface area, this equals 10,000 photons per square meter.
These photons have a cause and an effect. The cause is the visitor's thoughts, the input of his or her text, and the final pressing of the send button.
The seemingly negligible effect of the photons is akin to the flapping of a butterfly's wings. The associated causality undoubtedly influences the future of our deterministic system.
Our future!
If a butterfly's wing beat can trigger a tornado, it can also have the effect of preventing it! (1)
And if a tornado can be thwarted, much more significant changes are possible.
What kind of message will the visitor send?
(1) Lorenz, Edward, in: Edward Lorenz: The Essence of Chaos.
TIME SPACE EXISTENCE
Palazzo Mora, Strada Nuova 3659
OPENING PERIOD
22 May, 2021 - 21 November, 2021
Website European Cultural Centre - Italy:
Information Biennale 2021 - Venice
Chaotic Deterministic
The slightest events in the present can have a significant impact on the future.
They also affect systems in a state of unstable equilibrium, comparable to the balancing act of a ball resting on a mountaintop.
A volcanic cone filled with liquid lava will erupt on a still undetermined side: A group of researchers could cause the disaster.
A bridge at its load limit can break at a still unknown point: A bird that alights there would be responsible.
A dilapidated chemical plant could leak and explode: The fly on a display could irritate the operator and thus unleash an inferno.
If the lava does not destroy a village, the bridge only cracks, and the plant is shut down, we hardly pay attention to these correlations, although they are also a consequence of the butterfly effect.
The Earth Messenger sends messages around the earth. The photons emanating from the obelisk are meant to positively influence the causal chain through their deterministic chaotic behavior.