Cabinet 34 puts our culture of constant examination, and
self-examination itself, to the test, scrutinizing the historical
conventions that have produced our contemporary obsession with
quantifying and judging everything from aptitude and health to
personality and durability. The thematic section of this issue includes
Mark Dery on the history of the IQ test; Mats Bigert on the pitch drop
experiment (the world's longest continuously running laboratory
experiment, which began in 1927); Charlotte Delbanco on animal testing;
and Christopher Turner on projective personality tests. The unthemed
section boasts a brief visual history of the AK-47 as the quintessential
symbol of political resistance; Allen S. Weiss on the sense and no-sense
theory of proper names; Emily Thompson on early silent films; and Brian
Dillon on Antonin Artaud's strange sojourn to Ireland. Cabinet always
surprises with a host of artists' projects; this issue's is by Trish
Morrissey.
