The Polyphonic Machine:

25-28 November

In general, the uncertainty associated with the enormously costly investments required to guarantee an annual flow of energy to homes and businesses that could be valued at hundreds of billions of dollars suggests the value of correct information is immense, and this value is increasing every day.

The European Energy Directorate concludes that more than a trillion dollars is required just to upgrade the European electric network suggesting the energy future will not be obtained on the cheap. Measure this against the uneasy feeling over ignoring the amount of energy available in a lump of coal, the ability of the Chinese to reduce the time for building nuclear reactors from 10 years to 5 years (ground-break to grid-power), and population increases of 1 billion persons every ten years — and the drive for knowledge provisioning becomes paramount.

Exercise #1

Such remarks are substantiated concretely through the examples associated with our little exercise on the rise of the Polyphonic Machine.



Our proposal focused on the unique forms of distancing affects associated with the aesthetic treatment for requirements of provisioning knowledge of understanding energy investments.

By “distancing affects”, we refer here, of course, to how acts associated with the semantic provisioning of accurate planning become themselves the end points (rather than the means) for deliberate rational action. Thus, like an aristocracy before us, we live through sites of ever more concentrations of representing lifestyle associated with distance from the actual relations of reproducing basic needs.

Lunch Chat with TSL

Data Collection (or night in the city)

The evening began simple enough.




We clocked in at the Georgian watering hole, Мамалыга. Talking about this and that.



We included a stopover for brief discussion with an attendant.



Finally, we arrived at our destination –
During our previous visit to the Corinthia in January, while attending the INSOK meeting. We simply did not capture fully our desire to acknowledge the similarity between graphics on development and abstraction in art.


Where nostalgia over data in the form of (abstract imaging of energy development) proved once again to invite interest.



We collected and returned home.








11/23: Irina K. was waiting overtime at Pulkovo International with a cue through passport control that log jammed.

We blew into town amidst drizzle and rush hour.

Upon arrival, Alexandra D. ran over for a re-introduction and then walked me in through the spanking new accommodations.

Nevsky Prospect humming so trendy with restaurants filled to the gill. I have never seen the avenue so jammed.

I grabbed a latte and remembered that St. Petes is the only town to give a fifty percent discount on to-go.