Art and Illusionists

Art and Illusionists
Author: Nicholas Wade
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2015-10-12
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3319252291

We delight in using our eyes, particularly when puzzling over pictures. Art and illusionists is a celebration of pictures and the multiple modes of manipulating them to produce illusory worlds on flat surfaces. This has proved fascinating to humankind since the dawning of depiction. Art and illusionists is also a celebration of the ways we see pictures, and of our ability to distil meaning from arrays of contours and colours. Pictures are not only a source of fascination for artists, who produce them, but also for scientists, who analyse the perceptual effects they induce. Illusions provide the glue to cement the art and science of vision. Painters plumb the art of observation itself whereas scientists peer into the processes of perception. Both visual artists and scientists have produced patterns that perplex our perceptions and present us with puzzles that we are pleased to peruse. Art and illusionists presents these two poles of pictorial representation as well as presenting novel ‘perceptual portraits’ of the artists and scientists who have augmented the art of illusion. The reader can experience the paradoxes of pictures as well as producing their own by using the stereoscopic glasses enclosed and the transparent overlay for making dynamic moiré patterns.

Art Magick

Art Magick
Author: Molly Roberts
Publisher: David and Charles
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2022-03-08
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1446381048

Would you believe me if I told you that you're a witch? A crafty enchanter born with the abilities to create beauty, read secret languages, heal the heart and attract the attention of the strange and wonderful? The serendipitous event of this grimoire making its way into your hands is evidence of the buzzing creative power calling out from within you. It's time, Art Witch. This inspirational grimoire invites you to the shimmering primordial crossroad of the imagination where art and magick meet. Discover the basics of art magick: what art magick could be, how to enrich your life with art magick, how to cast potent spells for yourself, loved ones and community, and enjoy the energizing thrill of a creative magickal practice to call your own. Learn how to: Enchant art tools and materials to produce soulful creations. Create sacred spaces, altars and magickal allies for healing, fun and growth. Harness color, celestial aid, poetry and personal symbols to create layers of meaning. Banish creative doubt and strengthen your intuitive instincts. Choose art forms and context for robust spell craft. Uncover your gifts and enchant your world with a wide variety of media. With step-by step instructions and illustrations for over 15 projects, Art Magick reveals how to make an array of bewitched objects and establish your very own art magick practice, including your own pop oracle set, scrying mirrors, magickal mandalas, protection plushies, healing weavings, ensorceled altar boxes, print process sigils, manifestation mobiles, spirit statuary, dream incubation eggs, otherworldly wands and more. Whether you are a curious beginner, experienced crafter, dabbling magician or recovering creative, Art Witch, Molly Roberts will be your guide as you explore a colorful animated world that lies just beneath the surface—a world where your imagination and personal power collide to create real magick. Are you ready to awaken the Art Witch within?

Art and Magic in the Court of the Stuarts

Art and Magic in the Court of the Stuarts
Author: Vaughan Hart
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2002-03-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134876785

Spanning from the inauguration of James I in 1603 to the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Stuart court saw the emergence of a full expression of Renaissance culture in Britain. Hart examines the influence of magic on Renaissance art and how in its role as an element of royal propaganda, art was used to represent the power of the monarch and reflect his apparent command over the hidden forces of nature. Court artists sought to represent magic as an expression of the Stuart Kings' divine right, and later of their policy of Absolutism, through masques, sermons, heraldry, gardens, architecture and processions. As such, magic of the kind enshrined in Neoplatonic philosophy and the court art which expressed its cosmology, played their part in the complex causes of the Civil War and the destruction of the Stuart image which followed in its wake.

Magic

Magic
Author: Jamie Sutcliffe
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2021-12-14
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0262543036

The first accessible reader on magic’s generative relationship with contemporary art practice. From the hexing of presidents to a renewed interest in herbalism and atavistic forms of self-care, magic has furnished the contemporary imagination with mysterious and often disorienting bodies of arcane thought and practice. This volume brings together writings by artists, magicians, historians, and theorists that illuminate the vibrant correspondences animating contemporary art’s varied encounters with magical culture, inspiring a reconsideration of the relationship between the symbolic and the pragmatic. Dispensing with simple narratives of reenchantment, Magic illustrates the intricate ways in which we have to some extent always been captivated by the allure of the numinous. It demonstrates how magical culture’s tendencies toward secrecy, occlusion, and encryption might provide contemporary artists with strategies of remedial communality, a renewed faith in the invocational power of personal testimony, and a poetics of practice that could boldly question our political circumstances, from the crisis of climate collapse to the strictures of socially sanctioned techniques of medical and psychiatric care. Tracing its various emergences through the shadows of modernity, the circuitries of ritual media, and declarations of psychic self-defence, Magic deciphers the evolution of a “magical-critical” thinking that productively complicates, contradicts and expands the boundaries of our increasingly weird present.

Houdini

Houdini
Author: Harry Houdini
Publisher: Рипол Классик
Total Pages: 69
Release: 1928
Genre: History
ISBN: 5876406589

The Art of Magic and Sleight of Hand

The Art of Magic and Sleight of Hand
Author: Nicholas Einhorn
Publisher: Southwater
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-08
Genre: Magic tricks
ISBN: 9781780190563

Magic is an age-old art form, which has the power to amaze and amuse both children and adults alike. This fully illustrated book includes over 120 amazing magic tricks to be used on a variety of different occasions. It offers simple tricks as well as some designed for the more advanced practitioner. History of Mystery: the book opens with an introduction to the most important events and names in magic's rich history, including comedy and close-up magicians, illusionists and television magicians. Card Magic: the scope for performing tricks with cards is enormous. This chapter explains how to grip, shuffle and control cards, how to force cards, do self-working tricks and peform advanced card flourishes. Dinner Table Magic: items found on the dinner table can be used to entertain and amaze your guests. The tricks in this chapter focus on glasses, napkins, cutlery, straws, cups and sugar cubes. Match Magic: the shape and size of matches make them ideal for creating optical illusions and simple magic tricks. With a box of matches in your pocket, you can perform an entire magic show. String, Cord and Rope Magic: the cut and restored rope effect is a staple of the magician's repertoire. This chapter shows how to do this and other illusions such as making a knot disappear at will. Mind Magic: your audiences will believe that you have psychic powers with the routines in this chapter. There are many ways of creating the impression of mind-reading and thought transference. Silk, Thimble and Paper Magic: tricks using handkerchiefs and small objects have always been popular. This chapter shows how to do a variety of sleights of hand with these everyday props. Money Magic: everyone enjoys watching money appear out of thin air! Once you have learnt basic techniques such as palming and vanishing, there are many tricks to perform with both coins and banknotes. This book reveals the secrets of a wide range of tricks, and explains how to achieve a polished performance, with tips and advice on planning patter, rehearsing, and creating your own performance style. Step-by-step instructions with over 1000 photographs make it an indispensable guide for anyone seeking to master this fascinating art.

The Illusionists

The Illusionists
Author: Rosie Thomas
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2014-06-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1468309919

“Beneath this buoyant tale of down-market entertainers in Victorian London rumbles a heavyweight novel . . . Intricate and thrilling” (The New York Times). A young, beautiful woman of limited means, Eliza is modern before her time. Not for her the stifling—if respectable—conventionality of marriage, children, domestic drudgery. She longs for more. Through her work as an artist’s model, she meets the magnetic and irascible Devil—a born showman whose dream is to run his own theater company. Devil’s right-hand man is the improbably named Carlo Boldoni, an ill-tempered dwarf with an enormous talent for all things magic and illusion. Carlo and Devil clash at every opportunity and it constantly falls upon Eliza to broker an uneasy peace between them. And then there is Jasper Button. Mild-mannered and a family man at heart, it is his gift as an artist that makes him the unlikely final member of the motley crew. Thrown together by a twist of fate, their lives are inextricably linked: The fortune of one depends on the fortune of the other. And as Eliza gets sucked into the seductive and dangerous world her strange companions inhabit, she risks not only her heart, but also her life, which is soon thrown into peril. “Love, seduction, magic and illusion collide . . . A spellbinding journey through an extremely shadowy world.” —Daily Express “A brilliant Gothic mix of glitter and grime.” —Daily Mail “Thomas’s sprawling follow-up to The Kashmir Shawl . . . A story of a theater company, a thriller, and, most successfully, a portrait of a woman trying to create an equal partnership with a man.” —Publishers Weekly

The Transported Man

The Transported Man
Author: Marc-Olivier Wahler
Publisher: Msu Broad
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781941789056

A foreword by museum director and exhibition curator Marc-Olivier Wahler discusses the contemporary art exhibition The Transported Man within the framework of a teleportation magic trick described in Christopher Priest's 1995 novel The Prestige. Included is an interview between Wahler and France-based curator Christophe Kihm addressing how the brain reacts when interpreting an artwork, the language with which to approach art, and how these impact the future of museums and art exhibitions. Pairing the exhibition objectives with methods of illusion, an original essay by Christopher Priest, and a text by Francis Ponge, the book provides insight into the importance of belief and the nature of visual perception.

John Mulholland's Story of Magic

John Mulholland's Story of Magic
Author: John Mulholland
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1631583107

Magic has entranced public forums for hundreds of years, predating many other forms of entertainment that we enjoy today. This ancient art, with its captivating illusions and seemingly impossible sleight of hand, is still as relevant today as ever. Originally published in 1935, master magician John Mulholland’s Story of Magic is a delightful tour through the progression of magic, from its origin to the book’s contemporary period. It offers insights and reflections on famous routines and tricks, black-and-white photographs and illustrations to give readers visual reference, as well as informative facts that weave together a timeline of events for those interested in the history of magic. With a brand-new foreword written by renowned master magician and historian Ben Robinson, this timeless classic will enchant readers and educate them on the art of magic.

The Secret History of Magic

The Secret History of Magic
Author: Peter Lamont
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2018-07-17
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0143130633

Pull back the curtain on the real history of magic – and discover why magic really matters If you read a standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt, with the resurrection of a goose in front of the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You are told how conjuring tricks were used to quell rebellious colonial natives. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not to be true. Behind the smoke and mirrors, however, lies the real story of magic. It is a history of people from humble roots, who made and lost fortunes, and who deceived kings and queens. In order to survive, they concealed many secrets, yet they revealed some and they stole others. They engaged in deception, exposure, and betrayal, in a quest to make the impossible happen. They managed to survive in a world in which a series of technological wonders appeared, which previous generations would have considered magical. Even today, when we now take the most sophisticated technology for granted, we can still be astonished by tricks that were performed hundreds of years ago. The Secret History of Magic reveals how this was done. It is about why magic matters in a world that no longer seems to have a place for it, but which desperately needs a sense of wonder.