And Now Some Words About Mathematics From ... Werner Herzog?

I recently saw the famous film director give a math-themed speech. The experience was, as he might put it, subliiiime.

What’s more punk than the the public library? Answer: Werner Herzog at the public library! (Photo by Paul)

Note: This post is not paywalled. Enjoy! — Paul

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The German movie director Werner Herzog is deservedly famous for his filmmaking prowess. But if you’ve ever heard him narrate one of his documentaries (Grizzly Man, Encounters at the End of the World, many others), you know that he also has one of the world’s most compelling voices — a voice that’s at once otherworldly, theatrical, severe, and hypnotic.

I recently got to hear that voice in person, because Herzog was a speaker at the Brooklyn Public Library’s “Night in the Library,” an annual program of presentations based on a specific theme. This year’s theme was math (or, more specifically, “The Philosophy of Mathematics”). And via machinations that I can only imagine, they somehow managed to get Herzog to deliver the keynote address.

It’s a cliché to say that certain people have such amazing speaking voices that you’d gladly listen to them recite the multiplication tables. Herzog is definitely one of those people for me, and there he was, maybe 20 feet away from me, literally talking about multiplication tables:

I’ve mentioned before that I’m particularly fond of prime numbers, so it was fun to learn that Herzog feels similarly:

At one point Herzog addressed the quasi-mathematical topic of numerology (i.e., astrology, tarot, etc.), which was probably the funniest and most Herzogian part of the speech. I started filming just after he said, “Now we must talk about numerology”:

The official title of the speech was “Mathematics and the Sublime.” Here’s the part where he addressed that subject directly:

Herzog’s full speech lasted about 35 minutes. Here’s how he wrapped it up:

Okay, so he didn’t quite stick the landing with that “Dismissed!,” but it was still a really fun capper.

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People, I have to tell you: Watching the one and only Werner freaking Herzog hold forth on the subject of mathematics — in the lobby of a library in Brooklyn! — was a positively surreal experience. It’s almost certainly going to rank as the best live performance of any kind that I’ll see this year. Hope you got as big a kick out of it as I did.

Inconspicuous News Roundup

(Photo from exercice.studio)

• A French architecture studio has installed four unconventional table tennis tables at a school as a way of encouraging children to come up with their own rules and strategies. Details here. (From Audrey Kalman)

• Here’s a good article by a British guy who collects mailboxes from around the world. (From Elizabeth Fox)

• Speaking of niche-specificity, there’s a blog devoted to sightings of barometers in movies and TV shows. (From The Art of Noticing’s Rob Walker)

• Did you know that some people in New Zealand live without their stomachs? It’s true!

• My friend Nina has been traveling in Taiwan, where she spotted these excellent stick figures in peril:

(Photos by Nina Liu)

Paul Lukas has been obsessing over the inconspicuous for most of his life, and has been writing about those obsessions for more than 30 years. You can contact him here.