Cover illustration

From Statistical Mechanics: Algorithms and Computations

The cover of Statistical Mechanics: Algorithms and Computations (see below) features a detail of the Cube installation 'Eins.Un.One...' (1984) by Robert Filliou (1923-1987): 16000 wooden dice of different colors and sizes. This work is in the collection of the MAMCO(Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain) in Geneva, Switzerland. (The inset illustrates Perfect sampling with Markov chains by the "coupling from the past" approach by Propp and Wilson.)

Filliou's magnificent work has a number of hidden meanings, the most obvious of which is left to the reader of the book to discover (it can also be seen on the enlarged picture on the left). It has to do with the disappearance of randomness as it has invariably been associated with dice, at least until Filliou came about. In this installation, randomness is expressed in the dice's different colors (how many?), sizes (how many?), orientations, and positions. However, Eins.Un.One...' transcends a physicists' interpretation in terms of randomness: The dice in this installation are what they are not and they are not what they are. At the same time, they exist (as wooden cubes on a slightly soiled floor--not as a computer illustration), and they don't exist because we (the author) have never really seen them, only their picture. Then again, they only exist because of the spark they produce in our minds...

Let us conclude this foray of a physicist into art interpretation by reminding us of Robert Filliou's motto: "Art is what makes life more interesting than art". We can ponder on this motto for at least as long as on the installation 'Eins.Un.One...', but the reverse may also be true: we can search for the artistic meaning of 'Eins.Un.One...'for as least as long as it will take us to capture the science inside the book whose cover it orns (again, the reverse of this sentence may not be wrong, either)...Fittingly, Filliou was convinced that the sciences and art do not confront each other but work together towards the beauty of life.

Fascinating information on 'Eins.Un.One...' can be found on this Mamco website (in French). Robert Filliou, this influential French-American artist who also founded Art's birthday, is featured in Wikipedia articles in French (quite good), English (a stub).