1. Paradox
Are there deep connections between
science and art in the early 20th
century?

2. What is Paradox?
• A statement or proposition that seems self-
contradictory or absurd but in reality
expresses a possible truth
• Example:
“This sentence is false.”

3. Paradox in Science
• Quantum Theory, as we have studied, lies in
direct contradiction with Einstein’s worldview
of causality and the western worldview of
monotheism as a model for understanding.
• For the first time since the Enlightenment, we
see the principles of logic and materialism
refuted by quantum probability.

4. Paradox in Science cont.
• The concept of “no privileged perspective”
and “space-time” instead of “space” and
“time”.
• Movement affecting time.
• Limits on speed that contradict common sense
• Particle/Wave dichotomy

5. Paradox in Culture (Art + Cubism)
• Paralleling these developments in theoretical
physics, we see a revolution in Art.
• Picasso, taking after Cezanne, begins to
examine form, geometry, and the “fourth
dimension of painting”
• Dada, Surrealism, Abstraction gaining traction
and prevalence.

6. Paradox

7. Perspective

8. Fourth Dimension
(Marcel Duchamps “Nude Descending a Staircase”
1911)

9. Question:
Is there a common deep seeded idea that
allowed these parallel developments?