ART WARS:
Geometry for Jews
Today is Michelangelo's birthday.
Those who prefer the Sistine Chapel to the Rothko Chapel may invite their Jewish friends to answer the following essay question:
Discuss the geometry underlying the above picture. How is this geometry related to the work of Jewish artist Sol LeWitt? How is it related to the work of Aryan artist Ernst Witt? How is it related to the Griess "Monster" sporadic simple group whose elements number
808 017 424 794 512 875 886 459 904 961 710 757 005 754 368 000 000 000?
Some background:
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From Nobel Prize Women in Science, by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, Second Edition (2001), Joseph Henry Press:
"Storm trooper Ernst Witt, resplendent in the Brownshirt uniform of Hitler's paramilitary, knocked on a Jew's apartment door in 1934. A short, rotund woman opened the door. Emmy Noether smiled, welcomed the young Nazi into her home, and started her underground math class. The Brownshirt was one of her favorite pupils."
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On this date in 1962, Frank Sinatra recorded "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" for Capitol Records. This was his last recording for Capitol. He had already started recording for Reprise Records.
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Related reading:
- A Beauty Really Bare, by Robert Hughes, and
- The Painted Word, by Tom Wolfe
Thank goodness I am not Jewish, (I think) because I couldn’t begin to answer the question. Or at least I don’t want to think that hard today.
Btw, Michangelo’s work was shown here in Chicago, during the late fall.
Comment by NickyJett — Thursday, March 6, 2003 @ 3:56 pm
I was just listening to that release of Frank’s yesterday (he was a good friend of my paternal grandmother for many years).
I love coming here. Your posts make me think. Few do.
And thanks for the guestbook comment. That meant a lot.
Comment by starboard — Thursday, March 6, 2003 @ 5:54 pm