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“survival and Distance”: The Dramatic Voice in Robert Wilson's: Einstein on the Beach

Frederick J. Ruf

in Entangled Voices: Genre and the Religious Construction of the Self

When Plato recommends that poets be banished from his republic, it is the dramatic poets that he specifies. His principal charge that poetry is at a double remove from reality is based on the ... More

When Plato recommends that poets be banished from his republic, it is the dramatic poets that he specifies. His principal charge that poetry is at a double remove from reality is based on the representational nature of dramatic poetry, that the dramatic poet does not speak in his own voice (as does the lyric poet) but pretends to speak in another's. To Plato, the variety of voices in drama suggests (and threatens) the absence of harmony in the self. Stanley Hauerwas, Ronald Thiemann, and Alastair Macintyre seem to be Plato's counterparts today, but instead of urging the banishment of a literary genre, they recommend an alternative form for its usefulness in constructing a unified self, magisterial in its wise and calm possession of cohesion and intelligibility. This chapter examines the self modeled by the third of the traditional three genres, drama. In doing so, it proposes to take as an example of a drama a very unusual work, Robert Wilson's Einstein on the Beach. The chapter argues that Wilson presents the characteristic dramatic voice.Less

Robert R. Wilson, the Psyche of A Physicist

Mary Palevsky

in Atomic Fragments: A Daughter's Questions

In October 1996, the author traveled to Ithaca to conduct several interviews at Cornell University. There, Kutt Gottfried, a colleague of his father, introduced her to Robert Wilson, the Manhattan ... More

In October 1996, the author traveled to Ithaca to conduct several interviews at Cornell University. There, Kutt Gottfried, a colleague of his father, introduced her to Robert Wilson, the Manhattan Project experimental physicist. In 1995, he had received an award administered by the American Physical Society given specifically for outstanding work linking physics to the arts and humanities. This chapter presents his admiration of Niels Bohr and his role in the creation of the Federation of American Scientists. It tackles his questioning of the continued development of the bomb after the Germans were defeated, his experience of an epiphany at the Trinity bomb test, and his sense of betrayal on learning that the atomic bomb had been used on Hiroshima. Together with his wife, Jane Wilson, he reveals many reflections on the meaning of success and failure when considering the troubling legacy of atomic weapons.Less

Realization and Extended Cognition

Robert D. Rupert

in Cognitive Systems and the Extended Mind

This chapter addresses a realization-based interpretation of the extended approach. On this view, cognitive states are states of an organismically bounded cognitive system, yet may still have ... More

This chapter addresses a realization-based interpretation of the extended approach. On this view, cognitive states are states of an organismically bounded cognitive system, yet may still have realizers—that is, physical implementations—that extend beyond the boundary of the organism. Functionalism in philosophy of mind, as well as the associated idea of a physical realization, is spelled out in detail. It is then argued that the extension-friendly approach to realization is untenable. The relevant view of realization either undermines the examples motivating the extended view or is too liberal to be of use in cognitive science. Difficulty with this view arises largely because standard examples of extended cognitive processing involve interactions with the environment, and during these interactions, the realizers of the cognitive states at issue are distinct from those things with which the cognitive system interacts.Less

Wilson's Vision

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses Robert R. Wilson's vision for the National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. It explains that Wilson's aesthetics called for clean, bold, frugal, and functional components, ... More

This chapter discusses Robert R. Wilson's vision for the National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. It explains that Wilson's aesthetics called for clean, bold, frugal, and functional components, harmoniously combined. It also states that Wilson's self-image was composed of three distinct yet related personae: the pioneer who pushed frontiers, the craftsman or engineer who made things work, and the Renaissance man. Even though many aspects of the particle accelerator laboratory's design were suggested by others, its special character reflected Wilson's values. This chapter also discusses Wilson's leadership style.Less

Celebrity, Music, and the Multimedia Portrait

Joshua S. Walden

in Musical Portraits: The Composition of Identity in Contemporary and Experimental Music

Chapter 4 examines hybrid works of multimedia portraiture and the genre of the portrait opera. The chapter first views the Voom Portraits of the American avant-garde director Robert Wilson, an ... More

Chapter 4 examines hybrid works of multimedia portraiture and the genre of the portrait opera. The chapter first views the Voom Portraits of the American avant-garde director Robert Wilson, an ongoing series of multimedia video portraits of celebrities begun in 2004, looking in particular at his portraits of actors Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder, which combine high-resolution film image with eclectic sound effects and scores by composers Tom Waits and Michael Galasso. The chapter then turns to the portrait opera Einstein on the Beach, created by Wilson, Philip Glass, and choreographer Lucinda Childs, to explore how they produced a multimedia portrait of Einstein that employs disparate allusions to popularly known elements from his life in a highly abstract work of opera that leaves the viewer to engage in a particularly imaginative act of interpretation about how the music describes this well-known modern icon.Less

Constructing the Ring, 1968–1972

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses the history of the construction of the accelerator rings of the National Accelerator Laboratory during the period 1968 to 1972. It explains that while Berkeley designers ... More

This chapter discusses the history of the construction of the accelerator rings of the National Accelerator Laboratory during the period 1968 to 1972. It explains that while Berkeley designers mistrusted Robert R. Wilson's lack of experience in building large proton synchrotrons, his philosophy of taking risks to save money was considered by many in the U.S. as an appropriate, noble, or even patriotic response to the government's call for cost reduction. This chapter suggests that Wilson learned his cost saving strategies from his experience at Ernest Lawrence's laboratory in the 1930s and at Robert Oppenheimer's laboratory in Los Alamos during the 1940s.Less

Beyond the Horizon: The Energy Doubler, 1967–1978

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses the history of the conceptualization and construction of the Energy Doubler at the National Accelerator Laboratory. Robert R. Wilson conceived a plan using the phenomenon of ... More

This chapter discusses the history of the conceptualization and construction of the Energy Doubler at the National Accelerator Laboratory. Robert R. Wilson conceived a plan using the phenomenon of superconductivity to double the particle accelerator's energy to a trillion electron volts while at the same time saving power. The plan involved adding a second ring to the existing machine with roughly a thousand superconducting magnets. This chapter discusses the funding crisis of the Energy Doubler and Wilson's continuous involvement in the project after his retirement in 1978.Less

Minimalism and Music Theater

Eric Salzman and Thomas Desi

in The New Music Theater: Seeing the Voice, Hearing the Body

This chapter discusses the history of minimalism and the work of Philip Glass in music theater and opera, notably his influential Einstein on the Beach with Robert Wilson. It considers the influence ... More

This chapter discusses the history of minimalism and the work of Philip Glass in music theater and opera, notably his influential Einstein on the Beach with Robert Wilson. It considers the influence of minimalism on opera, particularly in the work of John Adams. Steve Reich's multi-media works with Beryl Korot are discussed along with the spread of minimalism as exemplified by music-theater works of Bang on a Can, Michael Nyman, and other British and European composers influenced by minimalism.Less

States of Marketability

Desmond Fitz-Gibbon

in Marketable Values: Inventing the Property Market in Modern Britain

The marketability of real estate could mean different things in different contexts, and nowhere was this more true than in the law, where the idea of marketability raised specific and technical ... More

The marketability of real estate could mean different things in different contexts, and nowhere was this more true than in the law, where the idea of marketability raised specific and technical issues pertaining both to the identity of land and to claims of ownership and tenure. Chapter 4 argues that these issues can be traced through the debate over title registration and the broader history of land law reform. In these debates, commercial metaphors were often used to capture what reformers like Robert Wilson and Robert Torrens saw as the essential transformation needed to make real estate a modern commodity. If land could be traded like other commodities--watches, say, or stocks--the property market could finally be made to function like any other market. The question of how best to legally configure marketable property drew in debates on colonial land ownership, in particular the Irish Land Question, and the trustworthiness of new title certificates and the state authority upon which they would be based.Less

Midwest Passage, 1965–1967

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter focuses the controversy and cost issue during the period from 1965 to 1967 that gradually loosened Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's control for the Fermilab project. It discusses ... More

This chapter focuses the controversy and cost issue during the period from 1965 to 1967 that gradually loosened Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's control for the Fermilab project. It discusses physicists' criticisms on the Berkeley design, particularly criticism from Robert R. Wilson and suggests that the decision to site the laboratory in the Midwest had a mediating effect. This chapter also highlights the appointment of Wilson as director of the particle accelerator laboratory in 1967.Less

A Users' Paradise, 1968–1978

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses Robert R. Wilson's vision for the National Accelerator Laboratory to become a user's paradise. His vision called for a balance of responsibilities that Wilson envisioned ... More

This chapter discusses Robert R. Wilson's vision for the National Accelerator Laboratory to become a user's paradise. His vision called for a balance of responsibilities that Wilson envisioned between users and staff. This chapter describes experimental facilities at Wilson's laboratory and some of the major discoveries from 1968 to 1978 which include the discovery of the bottom or beauty quark and direct leptons.Less

The Several Hundred GeV Accelerator, 1959–1963

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses the history of Fermilab from 1959 to 1963. It suggests that Fermilab was inspired by the development of the alternating-gradient principle and by the fact discussions about ... More

This chapter discusses the history of Fermilab from 1959 to 1963. It suggests that Fermilab was inspired by the development of the alternating-gradient principle and by the fact discussions about building larger particle accelerators were also taking place in international meetings during this period. Robert R. Wilson of Cornell University took the initiative to organize an informal meeting at the 1960 Rochester Conference to discuss the new “ultra-high-energy” accelerators. This chapter discusses the proposals from the Midwestern Universities Research Association (MURA), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley.Less

Oh, Ho, Ho, It’s Magic...

Arthur Versluis

in American Gurus: From Transcendentalism to New Age Religion

Discusses Robert Anton Wilson, magic, and chaos theory. The first extended scholarly discussion of Robert Anton Wilson’s work and related subjects with a focus on “left-hand magic” during the latter ... More

Discusses Robert Anton Wilson, magic, and chaos theory. The first extended scholarly discussion of Robert Anton Wilson’s work and related subjects with a focus on “left-hand magic” during the latter half of the twentieth century.Less

“An unholy interest in reforming others” 1897–1900

Melba Porter Hay

in Madeline McDowell Breckinridge and the Battle for a New South

This chapter discusses the wide range of activities that Madeline launched into. It notes that in 1897 she joined John Fox Jr. in an effort to assist Robert Burns Wilson by raising a subscription to ... More

This chapter discusses the wide range of activities that Madeline launched into. It notes that in 1897 she joined John Fox Jr. in an effort to assist Robert Burns Wilson by raising a subscription to publish a collection of his works. The McDowell–Breckinridge wedding took place at noon at Ashland on November 17 and newspaper accounts gushed about the “distinguished family connections on both sides, the brilliant personal endowments of the bride and groom and their universal popularity.” Madeline had formulated definite goals and mastered techniques of publicity and organization and began to create for herself a career in public reform during the early years of the Progressive reform movement. During the first two years after her marriage, she could record some important achievements: the beginning of social settlement work by the Gleaners, and the formation of Associated Charities and the Lexington Civic League.Less

The Super Collider Affair, 1982–1989

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses Fermilab's Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project. It suggests that the idea for the SSC started during the Cold War period from 1955 to 1975. When relations between ... More

This chapter discusses Fermilab's Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project. It suggests that the idea for the SSC started during the Cold War period from 1955 to 1975. When relations between Western and Communist powers began to thaw, several efforts kindled an internationalist spirit among physicists. In this context Robert R. Wilson, Leon M. Lederman, and other internationalist physicists conceived an optimistic vision of a worldwide particle accelerator. This chapter describes the birth of the Very Big Accelerator (VBA) from 1975 to 1980 and the completion of the Snowmass Desertron in 1982.Less

The Call of the Frontier

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This chapter discusses the conception of the Fermilab particle accelerator laboratory in the context of the frontier rhetoric. It explains that during the 1960s heroic frontier imagery illuminated ... More

This chapter discusses the conception of the Fermilab particle accelerator laboratory in the context of the frontier rhetoric. It explains that during the 1960s heroic frontier imagery illuminated the rhetoric of many politicians who spoke about science and technology, and references to the frontier appeared often in the writings and speeches. This article suggests that Robert R. Wilson's heroic tales of pioneers struggling on the frontier offered relief or even hope during the turbulence of the late 1960s and that this version of the frontier rhetoric forged an identity at Fermilab that unified his workforce.Less

Making Total Theater in America: Choreography and Music

Helene P. Foley

in Reimagining Greek Tragedy on the American Stage

Chapter 2 explores pioneering American attempts to realize Greek tragedy as “total theater,” involving words, dance, music, and visual choreography. It moves from examining early American modern ... More

Chapter 2 explores pioneering American attempts to realize Greek tragedy as “total theater,” involving words, dance, music, and visual choreography. It moves from examining early American modern dance that responded to Greek drama to the incorporation of innovative choreography, music and stagecraft in productions. It focuses on the dance and choreography of Isadora Duncan, Margaret Gage, Martha Graham, and Helen Tamiris and the productions of theater artists such as Andrei Serban and Elizabeth Swados (Fragments of a Greek Trilogy and Agamemnon), Harry Partch (Oedipus and Revelation in the Courtyard Park), Lee Breuer and Bob Telson (Gospel at Colonus), Will Power (The Seven), Peter Mills and Cara Reichel (The Rockae), and Robert Wilson (Alcestis).Less

Introduction

in Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the history of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a particle accelerator laboratory in Illinois. This ... More

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the history of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a particle accelerator laboratory in Illinois. This volume is divided into three sections. The first section presents Fermilab's prehistory beginning in 1960, the second tells how Robert R. Wilson created the laboratory in 1967 and the third explains how Leon M. Lederman, who became Fermilab's second director, revitalized the laboratory and succeeded, at least initially, in extending its horizons.Less