Cabinet 19: Chance

From actuarial tables to quantum physics to the Homeland Security threat level indicator, uncertainty remains a ubiquitous element of modern life, despite centuries of concerted effort by science and technology to mitigate its effects. Influencing both biological and social patterns of behavior, chance and its kin--randomness, probability, uncertainty, luck--also have a rich history in the world of art and literature, from the fortuitous juxtapositions of the Surrealist cadavre exquis to the automatist operations of Pollock. For its nineteenth issue, Cabinet investigates questions of chance and risk in locations ranging from the gambling hall to the laboratory, from the insurance agent's office to the fortune-teller's tent. Authors include Jeffrey Kastner on Paul Virilio's Museum of Accidents; Sasha Archibald in conversation with Jackson Lears on luck in America; Dale Pendell on the mysteries of augury; plus Cabinet's first-ever Random Reader Page Giveaway. The unthemed section features Paul Laity's history of the sandal; Tom Burr's typology of public toilets; Lyn Hejinian on cyan; Margaret Wertheim on Sodaplay; and Tom Vanderbilt on the Stasi's collection of scent samples from potential future political subversives.