Analysis Of Magic As A Form Of Art
Magic is used to simulate something impossible and make it seem possible. While magic is known to fool someone, it is also an art form as it opens up people's creative mindsets and it is used to express a person's feelings by creating, performing, and connecting with the audience using effects. Although magic has no set definition that is adequate to explain what it is, multiple interpretations of magic can be expanded on. Magic can be a viable art form because it allows the performer to be expressive while sending emotional impacts to audience members.
Art is something that can be defined in multiple ways. A general definition of art would be but is not limited to, a sort of language, or a means to communicate that is inclusive of more facets of human experience. According to Richard Park, “art is something that someone perceives as beautiful”. Perception is what people think or believe is happening, as well as what they see. One person's perspective of what art is may differ than another, because of the way that they view the world. Every person has a different view of the world, and that view becomes a filter. Any new information that comes into a person's brain is filtered through their worldview depending upon how they were influenced. The excerpt from the essay “Theories on Art” by Tyler Grayson says that “works of art are created to display what art is”, was interpreted by Allias Ren. He stated that, “artwork is created to convey what the artist is trying to express emotionally”. In principle, a work of art is capable of transmitting emotion from the audience to others. Famous magician Asi Wind says that, “all art is alike, they are all searching for the same thing which is to search for something to express in your own voice and to send a message in a unique way. ” He explains and expands more on how well-known artist, Henri Matisse says that 'the most difficult thing to paint is a rose. ' This is a result because it has been done countless of times, making it harder to give it your own voice. Art is fluid when it comes to its definitions because it is all about what the person perceives as art.
When an artist puts his brush on the canvas, he is then creating something into existence that has never existed before. No paintings are exactly alike, making each piece unique in its own way. Chris Curley came up with the analogy of, “The cards are my canvas, my hands are the paint and my mind creates the master piece”. When people say magic is not an art, it is not incorrect but is a different view. Magic that is not viewed as art, was probably performed improperly. Alan Moore suggests that, “magic is art and that art, whether that'd be writing, music, sculpture or any other form is literally magic” (The Mindscape of Alan Moore). Such as how the paint, brushes, and canvas are not art until the creative elements are introduced. Magic is the art of deception that makes the impossible, seem possible. “It is essential because it allows people to escape reality and explore their childlike sense of wonder”. For example, when children believe in Santa Claus, it allows them to access their creative mindset and believe in something that may or may not be real. As people mature, they tend to lose the craving for fantasy and choose not to believe in things of the unknown. When magic is performed it should feel real by, the performer soliciting an emotional response to its audience members. True magic should touch, move, or inspire the audience.
Magic differs from any other form of art because of the way the effect can truly change a viewer’s perspective on realism. Art defines what is real in society even when that art is a lie or an illusion. What art does for those who experience it, is something primitive; it captures and cultivates astonishment. Illusions twist the concrete and open windows of potential. “An effective illusion can destroy tedium and generate new experiences”. The art of illusion, or magic, is the art of astonishment. The basis of magic is to astound spectators and force them to think twice about everything they know to be real — matter cannot be created or destroyed and yet is done so before their very eyes — making magic a viable art form. Just as an actor can create emotions in an audience, so too can a magician. Magician David Blaine describes the power of illusion in his book Mysterious Stranger. He says, “magic strips away logic, it confronts fears, and brings us to a place of constant wonder and enchantment”. This experience allows the viewers to believe in the unknown. Magic, in a unique way, takes what people perceive as familiar and makes it unfamiliar. It captures a person’s perception and allows them to pose the question of, is magic real? According to his studies and experience, Byron Leung concluded that, “magic can seem real under certain criteria. ” It ultimately has to answer the question of, does the effect alter my perception of reality? If the effect makes the audience feel a different way than before the trick has started, magic may seem real. When a viewer starts to question their perception of reality, the emotions that the individual is feeling may be described as, when something occurs that he knows is under impossible circumstances but occurs undeniably in his presence.
Magic is not real, in the sense that the performers are not actually accomplishing their effects by any magical means. The magician instead uses his learned, skills and techniques to produce an effect that is seemingly impossible. However, magic is real in the sense that the performers, if they are good at their art, can make the old feel young, and make the young feel absolute wonder. They can make intellectuals giggle like fools and make proud people furious with bewilderment. They can make skeptics into believers, and even make believers into disciples. That is all undeniably a form of magic, and there's very little else in the world as potentially powerful.
For magic to articulate with art, its intention should be to spark creativity to extraordinary experience for audience members. For example, when “a trick is well performed, it has exceeded the expectations of the audience of just fooling them and has instead, allowed them to think about the message being sent”. Magic should not be performed to prove to the audience that magic is real, but should create an environment of empathy for viewers. Magic also relates to artwork directly because it allows the performer to create an effect that can impart a message while targeting the emotions of the audience. It is significant to understand Richard Turner’s principle that the size of the trick has no bearing on the effectiveness. A good magic trick has a better story than the effect. In other words, a simple effect can be transformed into a miracle. This leads to Asi Wind’s belief that the focus, delivery, inflection, and emotional content are all significant characteristics of what artistic magic is. If focused on these three aspects, then it will create good magic because it keeps the effect well organized and understandable. Rather than a magician who rushes into learning the pattern and effect while trying to force meaning into their tricks. When a creator of an effect tries to force the meaning into the trick, the creativity is lost. Creativity should come naturally when performing and creating artistic magic.
Creativity is the ability to imagine things that do not yet it exist or cannot exist, coherently. Magic allows magicians and magic enthusiast to open up their creative mindset. A magician can create effects and routines to express their own personal beliefs. The effects give the magician the opportunity to tell personal stories or experiences to make the audience think. “Good magic routines do not only fool the individual but rather make the individual think about what they just encountered”. The performance intention should also be to solicit inspiration for others to become creative. This only can happen if the effect being performed has significance and purpose. “Often, creators of magic effects use past experiences, current events, and developed opinions on subjects to create a routine that forwards a message they want to convey”. This grants the creator freedom by allowing expression on how they legitimately feel on a topic because there are no right or wrong answers to an opinion. Magic allows the performer to become artistically expressive.
Why do people create and perform magic? Magicians create magic effects because of their passion for the art. “Passion is a distinct characteristic that not every person has the opportunity to experience”. When one is said to have passion, that means that this person is enthusiastic about what they do. Magicians create and perform magic for themselves and for other people to experience. “When a magician receives a strong reaction from his audience, he is then inspired to perform or create another”. Magicians tend to chase that ‘high’ of feeling like they have accomplished something greater that the effect. The accomplishment that they may feel is giving inspiration, hope, or creating relation to their crowd. “Magicians are comparable to an artist not only when he has created an art piece with true passion, but has also created a sense of inspiration”. Magicians can inspire society by allowing them to take way something away from the effect and apply it to their life, by sparking a new interest in magic that can transform into a hobby, or by creating a moment where their views on the world have been changed.
