2026.03.02
a fiction all but for the fourth dimension
I seriously doubt my brother, Otto George Lauf (1953.01.10-2024.01.12), ever received Duchamp's Telegram; he just channeled Duchamp outright. Of course, relative to my brother, it was Marcel Duchamp (1887.07.28-1968.10.02) who saw the opportune opening first, my brother's mind suddenly (circa 1976.06.21) adrift in the fourth dimension, a place no living mind otherwise had any business being. Yet there it was, and, "Oh, it's living in Philadelphia."
question for google/AI
What does "a fiction all but for the fourth dimension" mean?
AI Overview
"A fiction all but for the fourth dimension" refers to the concept that our perceived reality--governed by three-dimensional space (length, width, height)--is essentially an incomplete or illusory "story," which only becomes fully "real" or complete when the fourth dimension (usually time or space-time) is included.
It highlights the idea that objects and events cannot truly exist without existing in time, making the fourth dimension the crucial factor that transforms a static, two-dimensional "fiction" into a three-dimensional "reality," or a three-dimensional static image into a four-dimensional experience.
Here is a breakdown of what this phrase means in different contexts:
Literary/Scientific Context (H.G. Wells): In literature, this often stems from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine (1895), where the narrator argues that because an object that exists for zero time does not exist at all, all physical objects are actually four-dimensional, with time being the fourth dimension. Without accounting for the passage of time (the "fourth dimension"), a story about life is just a static picture--a fiction.
The "Whole Picture" Perspective: It implies that while3D beings (humans) perceive the world one moment at a time, a 4th-dimensional perspective allows one to see the entire, static "timeline" from beginning to end--a completed "book" of life.
Spiritual/Transformation Context (e.g., AA "Big Book"): The phrase "rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence" is sometimes used to describe a profound, spiritual transformation where an individual moves from a limited, self-centered, and "unreal" life into a life that has been expanded by new perceptions of time, connection, and purpose.
Metaphorical Meaning: It means that only by factoring in the "fourth dimension" (history, perspective, or timing) does the narrative or life experience become authentic and fully understood.
In essence, it is the idea that 3D life is a "flat," incomplete story, and the 4th dimension is what gives that story its depth, reality, and context.
2024.03.02
Eve Ignudi Ignudi Mirrored
Older detail reproductions of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling purchased at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Works prime for a restoration
2023.03.02
From The Discovery of Piranesi's Final Project
2 March 2023 Thursday
Morning thick with fog. Therm. (on my phone) 44°. About 50 yards beyond the top of the hill is where Benjamin Henry Latrobe created his watercolor [sketch] of Ury House.
Exposition of Francesco's prints will now (mostly in chronological order) continue under the year of publication.
Francesco's adult life is full of interest and intrigue, and I really only know a synopsis of it. Hence, it is his works I will endeavor to learn best here, and, so far, I've learned a lot, which tells me there is indeed a lot to learn.
I'm also learning Piranesi's Vasi... volumes I and II, specifically what Piranesi was really up to the last three or four years of his life. Plus, it's nice to see the father's late work and the son's mature work folded together.
2006.03.02
Subtle pleasant sensations
That moment after about a minute of rigorous stirring over very high heat when the remaining liquid (mostly wine and melted butter) culled from cooking the scallops and the added heavy cream suddenly becomes a thick sauce. That's when you know the Coquille St. Jacques is going to be just perfect.
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