Turtles all the way 2021
Exhibition [404: NOT FOUND] Photographs Fred Dott Hamburger Clubs [PAL] Germany
Ceramic, QR code and Dymaxion globe
Turtles All The Way Down is a cosmological saying which is an expression of the term ‘Infinite Regression.’ Another fitting term could be that of the ‘Neverending Story’ by Michael Ende. When I discovered this phrase I perceived it is a description of the infinite internet information. In being able to obtain so much information, we begin to loose grasp of the simplest facts by the multitude of information available at our finger tips.
In the first page of Stephen Hawkins book ‘A Brief History of Time’ a lady is said to stand up at the back of the lecture hall to say that everything Bertrand Russell was saying was incorrect. She explained that the world is actually balanced on a giant tortoise. When asked what the turtle was standing on, she replied ‘it’s turtles all the way down.’ The mytheme of a giant turtle or tortoise supporting or containing the world occurs in Hindu, Chinese and Indian Native American mythology. This can also be found in contemporary Western stories, such as in Dr. Seuss ‘Yertle The Turtle’ where all turtles are piled on top of each other. There is one greedy dictator at the top, many in-between and underneath the overburdened turtle who has to bear the weight at the bottom. When the turtles topple down “...all the turtles are free, as turtles and maybe, all creatures should be.”