Science and Magic – the public and private.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 3:47PM No one can deny that one of the most magical aspects of performance is the publicness of it. A performer, exposed to public elements, creates a magical space and controls that space, or at the very least exposes that space for the benefit of a larger audience. Whether under hot theater lights in a dark room, or in the middle of a street full of stunned onlookers, performance necessitates a public gaze to function. This space between performer and audience is where the most interesting magic often happens.
When Mugwumpin set out to explore the intersections between science and magic this season, the question of how scientific thought and performance overlapped was in the front of all of our minds. Scientists, seemingly be nature, are a much more introverted and reclusive bunch than say, actors. The intellectual tangents and queries they pursue are often sparked by relationships with the inanimate – rather than an engagement with the public sphere. This is not to say that some scientists are not lovers of spotlights. But it does bring into question how the public sphere effects inspiration and action in science, and how the concept of magic might fit into the crevice between science and theatrical performance.
This year so far, we’ve looked at the public and private personalities of Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Guglielmo Marconi, and Alan Moore among others. Where their work intersected with public knowledge and opinion is interesting on a whole slew of levels. How their inventions and theories can be inspected and probed by a theatre company through public performance is a very exciting question.
Apart from the basic premise – where do Magic and Science come into parallel? Where to they cross one another? A larger question arises regarding the public and private, where creation actually comes from, and what, if anything, performance has to add this conversation. It’s a big spherical crystal of thought and motion, and we’re in for it for the long haul.
Images: Photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto is interested in creating both lightning fields inside his studio, and photographing empty screens and performance spaces.
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