What do you mean by the?– An infinitely small talk as dinner began to break up

'In 1974 John came to dinner at my house in Edinburgh. With other friends of mine the conversation was bantering and lighthearted. John seemed out of it until a gap appeared in the chatter. Seeing his chance John leapt in and said to one of the guests, "But what do you mean by the word THE!" I believe the dinner began to break up after that.' David Harding – John Latham, a eulogy at his funeral

'There is no reason to believe in a before and after what you call the big bang. If there is such a thing, then it must be happening everywhere, at every moment.' Félix Guattari – A Love of UIQ

Graeme Thomson and Silvia Maglioni propose to take up John Latham’s vexing question, as they say, 'partly out of fellow-feeling (as our own attempts at dinner party conversation have, on past occasions, had similar effects)'. Graeme Thomson and Silvia Maglioni propose to take up John Latham’s vexing question, as they say, 'partly out of fellow-feeling, as our own attempts at dinner party conversation have, on past occasions but mostly because we know that in such circumstances we would have stuck around, cleared up what dishes remained on a table now deserted, applied ourselves to restoring plates and glasses to pristine state or thereabouts with sponge and scrubbing brush or whatever cleaning implements and solutions were to hand and, perhaps seeking inspiration in half-finished glasses whether of claret, chianti, tongue-blackening cabernet sauvignon or migraine-inducing haute medoc, peu importe, addressed John’s “definitive” inquiry – which is what we are asking that you join us in doing on this occasion at Flat Time House amid other leavings and left-overs, only with one small request: that we should all refrain from employing such a term as constitutes its object, knowing John’s problem with objects, or at least until such time as we have succeeded in defining it to our insatisfaction.