Why Clinamen

The meaning of Clinamen

In Epicurean physics, the clinamen is the spontaneous, random deviation of atoms from their straight-line fall through the void—occurring unpredictably in both time and space—which allows atoms to collide with one another. This concept was introduced by Epicurus to preserve the freedom of human free will within a physics framework that was not entirely deterministic.

In his work On the Nature of Things (II, 216–219), Lucretius, commenting on the philosophy of Epicurus, states that «atoms fall straight down through the void by their own weight: at uncertain times and places, they swerve slightly from their course—just enough that you could speak of a change in motion».

It is the idea of an exceptional deviation, which one might almost view as a "happy accident" or an epiphenomenon, that allows the clinamen to be linked to 'Pataphysics.

In the novel Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, considered the bible of 'pataphysicians, Alfred Jarry explicitly speaks of the ejaculation of the «bestial, sudden Clinamen» (Book VI, Chapter XXXIV, aptly titled «Clinamen»). The 'pataphysician O. Votka writes that Epicurus understood that at the center of every thought, as well as every reality (which is never anything other, for anyone, than a thought of reality), there is an infinitesimal aberration, a fundamental inflection that nevertheless throws everything off balance. The clinamen is therefore something entirely different from a simple fate or mere probability, as is often said. Instead, it is a mocking notion that Epicurus places at the very origin of all things...

 Thus, the representative logo of CLINAMEN AUDIO can be "read" with a double meaning: on the one hand, it represents a musical stave bearing a musical score.

An artistic illustration of  the formation of Clinamen 

On the other hand, the notes on the stave can be seen as the atoms cited by Epicurus: lying on the parallel lines of the stave, these atoms would never collide. Conversely, there is one atom—the one traversing the "O"—that follows a spiraling path converging into Clinamenaudio: it thus represents the exceptional deviation from the normal state of things, conveying the very idea of uniqueness and exclusivity we intended to bestow upon this brand.

 Clinamen logo

On the other hand, it is only natural at this point to reflect...

What is Music, if not atoms in vibration?