Publius Enigma
The Publius Enigma is a puzzle connected with Pink Floyd's 1994 album The Division Bell. It was perhaps the first Internet-based promotion for a major band, coming at a time before most artists or record labels had any kind of official Internet presence. Known designers of the puzzle include Storm Thorgerson and Richard Wright (musician).
Publius
The Publius Enigma is named after a messenger calling himself Publius who posted clues on a Pink Floyd internet newsgroup, [1], soon after the launch of The Division Bell world tour. These cryptic posts claimed that there was an enigma hidden within the album, and that an unspecified reward awaited the person or persons to solve the puzzle.
- "The Division Bell is not like its predecessors. Although all great music is subject to multiple interpretations, in this case there is a central purpose and a designed solution. For the ingenious person (or group of persons) who recognizes this - and where this information points to - a unique prize has been secreted." [2]
Many Pink Floyd fans were skeptical, so Publius agreed to provide proof of his authenticity. On 16 July 1994 he delivered a prediction:
- "Monday, July 18, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Approximately 10:30pm. Flashing white lights. There is an enigma." [3]
On the night in question at approximately 10:30 p.m. during the concert, white lights in front of the stage spelled out the words ENIGMA and PUBLIUS while the band performed as predicted. Video of the Giants Stadium event can now be seen on YouTube. Confirmation of the enigma was given again nearing the end of the tour, this time to a much larger audience. On 20 October 1994, during a televised concert at Earl's Court, London, the word ENIGMA was projected in large letters on to the backdrop of the stage. The projection can be seen on the P*U*L*S*E concert video (during the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)").
The word ENIGMA that appeared projected on the stage during Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) was originally the word, with no embellishments. On the P.U.L.S.E video, embellishments were added so that it could still be seen, but was less obvious. On the P.U.L.S.E DVD, it was overlaid with L=mc2, which changed to E = mc². It is quite clear the footage had been extensively edited to remove the word ENIGMA in all but the final few frames before the flash of light, when it is still clearly visible with no embellishments other than the scribbles that covered the screen a few seconds before. At the end of the concert, the logo for the DVD authoring company Das Boot uses an enigma machine as their logo, a subtle reminder that the enigma was still unsolved. Some die-hard enigma hunters have invested years of hard work to find a solution to the enigma presented by Publius.
"Genesis"
Three years after the last Publius message in 1997, another anonymous messenger calling himself Genesis appeared claiming to be a successor to Publius. Little conclusive proof of any connection to Pink Floyd was given. The "Genesis" messenger had indeed brought together many Pink Floyd fans with the hopes of solving the Enigma. It is not certain, but a few Publius Enigma hunters believe that the "Genesis" messenger is in fact the Publius of earlier times reorganized in a newer fashion and referring to it as a "New Beginning". From 1997 to 2007, "Genesis" delivered upwards of sixty cryptic messages to the newsgroup [4] (alt.music.pink-floyd). The "Genesis" messages differed a great deal from those that Publius posted. The Genesis posts stated clearly that it was necessary to combine both the Publius posts and the Genesis posts to break a rather difficult code that would have provided the solution to the Enigma. "Genesis" also stated that Pink Floyd music, artwork and public media other than that was contained in The Division Bell album and CD booklet, will also have provided the same solution. Messages from "Genesis" often contained cryptic clues that when unraveled invoked wonder in many as to the authenticity of "Genesis". The messages also often contained promises to the solver(s) of the puzzle great fortunes and global scale celebrations.
"In that moment, nobody alive will grasp the celebration that will instill upon you "the master" of your own "New Beginning" and that of the most wonderful band still alive today: PF." Some of the “Genesis” messages when combined with those from Publius have lead to the discovery of anomalies never before detected within certain Pink Floyd media.
Current status of the Enigma
In April 2005, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason stated that the Publius Enigma did exist, and that it had been instigated by the record company, rather than the band:
- "That was a ploy done by EMI. They had a man working for them who adored puzzles. ... He was working for EMI and suggested that a puzzle be created that could be followed on the Web. The prize was never given out. To this day it remains unsolved." [5]
Nick Mason during a book signing of his biographical work Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd in 2005 had revealed that the enigma was real, and that the prize was a "crop of trees planted in a clear cut area of forest".
Apparent clues to the existence and validity of the Enigma have appeared in releases of Pink Floyd related media up to 2005, including some releases not connected to EMI:
- The artwork for the MiniDisc release of A Momentary Lapse of Reason contains the words PUBLIUS and ENIGMA.
- The words "Publius Enigma" can be heard spoken just before the song "One of These Days" on the 2003 DVD release of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (Universal).
- Storm Thorgerson's cover for John Harris' book The Dark Side of the Moon, published by HarperCollins in 2005 prominently includes the word ENIGMA alongside an ellipsis (a regular feature of Genesis' clues).
But perhaps the most intriguing clue to surface suggesting that the enigma is authentic came on June 11, 2005 when the band agreed to reunite for Live 8. Sources at PubliusEnigma.com reported that a forum poster named "PubliusEnigma" had predicted this event with posted clues involving the number "11:11" exactly a year earlier to the day (June 11th, 2004). It was later revealed that "PubliusEnigma" was posting under several monikers in the messageboard, which brought about doubts about his credibility despite the accurate prediction. PubliusEnigma.com was soon hacked after the website's owner erased "PubliusEnigma's" clues, (citing fraud) leaving many Enigmatists feeling disillusioned. Though sources did not report the agreement until June 12, according to the press the actual reconciliation happened on June 11. It is widely known among the Publius Enigma community that Publius made his debut post on June 11, 1994, exactly 11 years to the day earlier. Some have suggested that this is directly related to the clue found on the inside of The Division Bell booklet which reads ELF-ELF which is German for 11:11. Interestingly enough, Pink Floyd were scheduled to play at Live 8, in Hyde Park, London around 9-10 p.m. Due to the show running late their set was delayed and they didn't take the stage until shortly after 11 p.m. London time. At 11:11 p.m., Roger Waters and David Gilmour were playing their first show together after a quarter of a century.
There is also a movie currently in production entitled 11:11 which features Pink Floyd's "High Hopes" as its title track. The theme of the movie seems to mirror the theme of the song which is loosely based on the split from childhood to adulthood.
External links
Solutions
This solution found exacting relationships between the page numbers, the piano composition of the first track Cluster One, the glyph on page two of the booklet, as well as the glyph's which featured on the balloons in the High Hopes music video. It involved locating a missing key which was the piano note "D" and displacing this 'missing' note with two other singular notes C and C (in the final part of the piano) into three dots featured inside the booklet and on the spine of the CD cover. Played together the notes C and D on piano represent a basic example of what makes a piano cluster. Incidentally, the dissonance of the tuning in the specially made foundry bell in the final track High Hopes was tuned prominently to C, with D harmonics.
Discussion
- PubliusEnigma.com Discussion forum for the Publius Enigma
Analysis
- A Guide to the Publius Enigma An overview of the clues
- Publius Enigma A comprehensive history and analysis
- Pink Floyd & Co A brief history of the Publius Enigma
- The Division Bell Concept Analysis based on cybernetics