Magic is an interesting art form, as well as one of the most entertaining. It makes one question his or her preconceptions of reality. Card tricks are often some of the simplest and most common types of magic tricks with all of the versatility and simplicity that they offer. This article stresses how impressive the card tricks that Mr. DelGaudio and Mr. Guimarães executed were. It is often refreshing to realize how sometimes simplicity can be so enjoyable.
It is interesting how even though one may have preconceived notions that magic is the utilization of illusions and slight of hand by a magician, a good magician can circumvent this obstacle and still amaze his audience with his performance. This makes one wonder why people are so susceptible to the surreal. Do humans have a desire for what is not real? Why do they covet what they cannot have? What is it about the unknown that is so intriguing?
A realization that one might have from this article is the power of the human imagination. The human imagination can be manipulated and utilized to create and be subjected to mystery. Every successful magic trick has to be carefully designed, orchestrated and executed. Unless one is a practitioner of magic tricks, watching magic tricks that one has seen before continues to yield a sense of mystery and entertainment. It is also interesting how magicians are able to adapt to changing times. This also furthers the concept of how humans are able to adapt so well to their changing surroundings.
Magic tricks have always been something that has intrigued me but they have often been too difficult for me to execute with respect to the precision and attention to detail that is required to execute them. However it is always interesting to read about and attempt magic tricks, but this always takes away from the mystery associated with them. Is ignorance actually bliss?
Article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/theater/reviews/nothing-to-hide-magic-at-pershing-square-center.html?ref=arts
I really like the questions you posed regarding the rationale of people’s fascination over surreality. I can relate to it since I do believe that we all want what we do not already have, whether it is physical appearance or intellectual ability. I didn’t realize that this set of questions could be applied to the field of magic as well. Most of us are very curious and want to discover the secret behind shocking magic tricks. However, to magicians, it could be a pretty touchy subject. Many devote much of their time inventing their own magic tricks to survive in a competitive working environment, instead of showing clichés to the audience. In this case, ignorance probably is bliss.
Magic is both an art and a science. It’s an art because a magician works to amaze and intrigue the audience. It’s a science because magic is really a system of movements and prop manipulation that can become quite technical and complex. There’s a reason for every action, whether it is to mislead or to execute.
I also agree with you on the notion that magic is a very interactive art form. Audience participation is necessary to maximize magic’s effectiveness since it takes advantage of the human mind and imagination in order to cast a sense of mystery. We become enchanted by the illusions behind magic, causing us to ponder about how every single magic trick is done. We can try to speculate using our imaginations, but in the end, we will never really truly know how a trick is done. I think that’s where the real magic is – limitless possibility.
I like that you questioned the idea of ignorance being bliss. When I was much younger, certain magic tricks done at parties were fascinating to me. It opened up a whole different world, and it was so fun. But as I grew older, I realized that it wasn’t real magic but rather simple strategies of distraction, and that made it lose, well, the magic of it that had first attracted me.
Of course there are tricks done now that I don’t know the true answer behind. I never thought of magic as an art, but the way it has to be carried out is so complex that it definitely fits into the category. I had a magic trick book when I was younger and gave up because of the difficulty level. The way magic is presented can also be artistic- David Blaine had this cool presentation set up in the city where he electrified himself for 72 hours. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214386/David-Blaines-death-defying-stunt-amid-million-volts-electric-current-Its-safe-Id-says-professor-69.html
It attracted crowds in the same way an exhibit would, and magicians/illusionists like this guy seem to have crazier and crazier new stunts every year to shock a more modern audience.
Human has always been an animal that chased after the things they were unable to do. Magic, techniques whose secrets were unknown to the common mass, was able to attract large audience because it was something people don’t understand and was unable to do. Human’s natural curiosity led us to inquire what we don’t understand, and magic became a natural target. Of course, magic was also something that required constant innovation. As magic tricks got utilized more and more, the audiences were able to catch up with the magicians method. Therefore, to keep ahead of the crowd and maintain the mysterious nature of magic, new magic tricks were always needed.
For me, magic has always been a way to just justify something I thought was impossible. If I don’t see it as real, I say, “MAGIC!” Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Why bother finding out about something when you can just take it an appreciate its “impossiblity”. Everyone needs something to believe in, and for me and a bunch of others, we just call it magic. We all know that magic isn’t really magic, but enjoyment is a nice thing to have. I feel like this relates to art in that most artists want you to appreciate their art. Not pick it apart and figure out every trick they used. They are trying to show something to you, not ask you to critique every part of their work and rip it apart so you can copy it, or else that artist would no longer be unique.
Janice Fong
I wouldn’t characterize the curiosity magic and enigma yield in us as ignorance. While we are astounded by the idea of magic, I think we all realize that in fact it is all a trick. Ignorance is when we are unaware of and unintentionally uninformed about some form of knowledge. When it comes to magic, we tend to suspend our cognition and voluntarily immerse ourselves into the moment. Not to mention, the “unknown” somehow amuses us, and thus, we both enjoy and dread it. Taken as a whole, that makes the experience worthwhile. Can you imagine witnessing a magic trick and trying to take apart all the acts to understand where the magician manipulated our minds and created an illusion? That would not leave the same impact on the audience.
In terms of this article, I want to know what kinds of tricks Helder Guimarães and Derek DelGaudio perform. Going by the article, the author, Charles Isherwood, seems to be impressed and confounded by the tricks shown at the event. The “five of hearts” remains a mystery to him and the readers. He chose to promote the event by keeping the audience in the dark and withholding any concrete information about the show or trick rather than describing the experience he had. Either way, the writer managed to intrigue the reader, primarily because magic is already an amusing concept in and of itself.
I am intrigued by the questions you ask in your post. I think that humans do covet what they can’t have or what is unknown simply because of that fact. We have a desire to attain knowledge and we do not want to be left ‘in the dark’ about anything-ironic because the dark is the unknown that we strive to uncover. Anyway, humans are naturally curious beings. I like your twist and using the article as a jumping off point to discuss magic and it’s appeal. Magic is deception as well as simplicity. We are drawn to it for the very aforementioned reasons of our nature as human beings. Though I wouldn’t categorize our unknowing of these magic tricks as ignorance, I can say wholeheartedly that sometimes what you don’t know can be for the better-ignorance is bliss.
I think that the questions you pose are very interesting however, the answers to some may be obvious. Humans long for something more than this in hopes that there are answers, or better things than the current life they live. Humans desire things that are not real because often times they are bored with reality. People are always curious and striving for more knowledge but I think the main difference between this curiosity and magic is that magic works with elements of deception. It is exciting for one person to be able to perform something that the rest cannot fathom being possible. I like your last question because it is applicable to many life situations and I think ignorance is bliss because like you said, if we read the article, the mystery of the magic trick will be taken away and what fun is that?
Like what many others said, people are simply baffled and curious when something happens out of the ordinary. Magic achieves this in spectacular fashion. Not only is it immensely fascinating, it is also very interactive. The simplest of magic tricks can be learned and then used to entertain friends and family. From there it continues to spread. This is why I highly respect magic and why I consider it to be a great art form.
Certainly some might think figuring out how a magician performs their tricks would result in losing the magical sense of unknowing. But I think it’s just as fun watching magic performed as it is learning how to perform that magic and then performing it for someone else. Because, as you mentioned, magic needs to be carefully designed and executed, so if we become capable of performing even the simpler tricks in the books, then we also become magicians. And the fun of magic gets spread to larger audiences.
That last line of your argument “Is ignorance actually bliss?” made me immediately think of “Gatsby”. The woman Gatsby loved wondered this same thing when she famously wishes that her daughter becomes a beautiful fool. I think although it seems to be a human element tone taken by the surreal, it seems to be more do to our lack of knowledge and/or laziness. I love a good magic trick just like anyone else, but it really only works due to our lack of perceptiveness. It was clear in Gatsby that it isn’t actually better to be in a bliss of ignorance, it devalues yourself. I know I took the point and brought it to a totally different example, but it is the same concept. It would still be great to see a magic trick even if you understood it because instead you could watch it and see where everyone else is lost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCxbZ8D7N1o
To be honest, I never really thought of magic as a form of art. I always thought of magic as simple mind tricks. But after reading this article, I think it should be classified as art since magic is something creative and is meant to entertain an audience. Like many other people, I never get tired of watching the same magic tricks since they build a sense of mystery and intrigues you to figure out how it is executed, often to no avail.
In the case of magic, ignorance definitely is bliss. If we knew how every magic trick worked, magic tricks will no longer be entertaining to us. Our curiosity is what makes magic tricks a form of entertainment and our inability to understand how magic tricks work is what makes them so fascinating. Like any other form of art, magic really has no limits. Magic isn’t just card tricks or making objects disappear; magic could be anything that creates an illusion for its audience.
First off, I really liked the article and the questions you posed in your response. I think that people like magic because everyone wants to understand the unknown. Since the beginning of the human race, we have quested to create explanations for what we did not understand. This is evident in everything from religious to scientific justification for why things are the way they are. What is so intriguing about card tricks is that they can provide the same sense of mystery as questions like, Why are we on this planet? How did we come to be?, with the most simplistic tools. Magic allows us to connect with the inner-child part of us that spends the day questioning. It leaves us in that captivated sense of curiosity, however, I do not think that ignorance is bliss. In reality, I think that the contrary is true, as the reason behind why people enjoy magic is they want to know how the magician did it and what capabilities he/she possesses that I do not.