Archive for April, 2007
Bye Bye Blackboard
Blackboards were wiped after use: they were meant for immediate communication, not for record. Even as they were being used, their messages were continuously revised, erased and renewed. When Einstein came to Oxford University in 1931 the blackboard used in one of his lectures was preserved.
This exhibition marks the centenary of the Special Theory of Relativity by inviting a number of well-known people in Britain today to chalk on blackboards the same size as Einstein’s. The result is an exhibition about science, art, celebrity and nostalgia. The blackboard is fast disappearing from meetings, classes and lectures: ‘bye-bye blackboard’.
Below is Brian Eno’s contribution.
Nail house demolished
The owners of the 219-square-meter house, dubbed the “nail house” because it refused to be hammered down, had been fighting off bulldozers since 2004, when developers pleaded with them and another 280 households to make way for a shopping mall.
While the husband flew a national flag to demonstrate his determination on the “island”, his wife held “press conferences” for media and audiences on the construction site.
During the time they were marooned in the house on top of a mound, she brought him food, water and quilts tied to a green rope so that he could pull them up.
Experts believe that the outcry reflects a growing dissatisfaction among common people about the way sites are commandered and buildings demolished. On China’s portal websites like sina, 85 percent of those polled showed support for the couple.