Pulling the Elephant’s Tail

Six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. 

The blind man who felt a leg said the elephant is like a pillar; the one who felt the tail said the elephant is like a rope; the one who felt the trunk said the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who felt the ear said the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who felt the belly said the elephant is like a wall; and the one who felt the tusk said the elephant is like a solid pipe. 

A wise man explained to them: 

"All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched a different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned". 

We cannot see time. But at the heart of the matter is time. Time matters. Is time matter? Is time material?  

After thousands of years of science, physicists are still thriving to describe the nature of time. If they are right, time might not exist, it is just a mental construct that we use to compare events and to make sense. Then who are we, as bundles of memories wired with temporal perception? 

Like the blind men describing the elephant, in our Non-fiction section we are approaching this huge topic from different angles. The newest concepts in Physics are presented by George Musser in The Matter of Time – in our non fiction section. Frederick Turner presents “A Brief Explanation of Time” – a complex, interdisciplinary approach of the topic. In the same section the distinguished architect Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta presents his unique design project of a Time Museum. Iulian Grigoriu talks about the dynamic relationship between Self and Time, Patrick Calinescu describes the notion of a-temporality, while Carmen Firan describes different personal mental representations of Time. Paul Doru Mugur brings into discussion the Hypertime and the Metachronon, which has been presented earlier this year at a multi-disciplinary conference on time at Tank Space in New York City.  

And they are all right. 

Like the blind men hearing the elephant, we present in this issue two audio files. A very interesting discussion about time hosted by Corina Negrea at Radio Romania Cultural is downloadable in the Essay section. Respiro is very proud the host in this issues an original composition of Grammy nominated Romulus Cruceanu. 

And they are all right. 

Like the blind men drawing the elephant, we brought in this issue artwork inspired by Time. We present two original clock designs. One is the waterclock, an installation designed by Dove Bradshaw and the other is the electronic clock designed by Catinca Tzilea. In Artist Portfolio, we present articles, movies and installation by Scrapeworm.  An experimental multimedia project, “Dreams”, by Yoram Yanay and Paul Doru Mugur can be visualized by those who have Apple platform. Three excellent movies by Cristina Pavesi are hosted in the Movie section. In Critics, our editor Paul Doru Mugur has an interesting discussion with Brett Yviett about the time as the supreme artist. 

And they are all right. 

Like blind men telling stories around the elephant, Adrian Drăgan, Adrian Buz, Patrick Călinescu, Filip Petru, Lucian-Vasile Szabo, Ion Hobana, Simona Cratel and Adina Dabija present short stories inspired by time in our Fiction section. 

And they are all right. 

Like blind men playing the elephant, Carmen Firan has A Question of Time in a short play published in the Theatre section. The film director Gokhan Yorgancigil talkes about The Magic of Time in an interview about his recent movie Sifir Dedigimde (On the Count of Ten). You can also view the film trailer in the Film section of the magazine. 

And they are all right. 

Like blind men chanting the elephant, Richard Greene, Claudia Serea, Marina Nicolaev, Michael Martin, Alexandra-Emilia Bucur, Adrian Sângeorzan, Dan David, Angela Furtună, Florentina Stanciu, Ana Dragu and Paul Doru Mugur just pull the elephant’s tail in the Poetry section.

Aouch!

Respiro