From holosphere, Winter Spring 1988, Vol. 15, No. 4, p.5. Letter to the Editor:

Sir:
I, Andre Gabor, brother of Dennis Gabor, Nobel Prizeman and inventor of holography, and I, T. Edward Alibone, who wrote the Bibliographical Memoir for the “Royal Society of London on the life and work of Dennis Gabor, read with profound dismay Ms. D. Tulla Lightfoot’s account of an exhibition in downtown Chicago of tasteless holographic “art”. (holosphere, vol.15, no. 2, Summer 1987, p.29). She wrote, “It was a strange show. The realistic work was tasteless. One could find more artistry in a book shop, blaringly dealing in smut, and I was left to wonder why?”

Why, indeed? Gabor’s friend Salvadore Dali was most impressed with the possibilities of holography, since it provides the third dimension far surpassing any of the conventional tricks based on illusions, and Dennis lived long enough to see the blossoming of some holographic art, but we are glad that he did not live long enough to see bastardized art of the type which repulsed Ms. Lightfoot.

Our Prime Minister said only a few days ago (the day when she became Britain’s longest-serving P.M. of the twentieth century), “Our young people are crying out for a set of rules and standards by which to live”. The standards of the Chicago exhibition of holography are not those we wish to meet here.

Yours truly,
Andre Gabor
T. Edward Alibone

Wow! What a thrill to be denounced by the brother of the inventor of holography! And his partner! Who turns out to have been Dennis’s boss! And they were both fans of Margaret Thatcher!

Are they referring to the same Salvador Dali (they misspelled the first name) that I know and love? Who painted the “Great Masturbator”? Who went gay just to piss off the rest of the Surrealists? Were they aware of Dali’s peccadilloes? I certainly couldn’t come close!