Zuse’s Lemma (2007)
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Quicktime video (5 minutes)
Zuse’s Lemma is an update of Hollis Frampton’s structural film Zorn’s Lemma (1970, 59 minutes). Zorn’s Lemma is based on mathematician Max Zorn’s “lemma,” the 11th axiom of set theory, proposing that, in a “set of sets,” there is a further set composed of a representative item from each set. If Zorn’s Lemma appeared on YouTube, what kind of “responses” — videos made by other users as replies, remakes, updates or critiques — would it inspire? Zuse’s Lemma is one such imaginary YouTube response. The video is named after Konrad Zuse, inventor and engineer of the so-called “first computer.” Zuse’s Lemma converts the standard Roman alphabet into the binary number system (a series of zeroes and ones) and uses this “code” to (re)define its structure.
