User:Charlie/T4Presentation

✧ Protocols for Magic - A presentation ✧

What is Magic?

Although I believe there doesn't exist one definitive answer to it, I do ask this question within the first chapter of my thesis.

By formulating three working definitions:

① Magic as a force

② Magic as a mode-of-thought

③ Magic as connection

I chose these three varying perspective on defining what Magic is, because individually, and concurrently, they act as a narrative framework to analyze and compare opposing positions on Magic. At the same time, I use them to form a timeline of the historic evolution of Magic within Western public discourse, its relation to Art, and directly reflect on the material implications of these definitions via examples placed on this timeline.

(Personal position/definition)

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Ultimately, I believe that Magic can mean many different things and appear in a variety of ways, experiences, forms. Whether one views Magic as something supernatural or as a representation of the human subconscious, to me, Magic represents something inherently human. — The seeking of agency and purpose in life.

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Magic as a connecting force enables us to find meaning and create a sense of control over our material conditions. Magic becomes a tool for transforming and overcoming what bind us to our current state. However... (Magic in knowledge.. and understanding "the systems")

Art can be Magic's conduit. It exists in the in-between of the tangible and ephemeral state of being.

What's the timeline of this project?

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In retrospect..

Protocol for Retroactive Magic

① Retroactively find Magic in last year's projects

② Reframe them as representing a form of Magic

Or:

✧ An exercise in Magical Thinking ✧

SI#25 ✧ Sounds of Marmalade ➭

Sounds of Marmalade is a project we presented at the Special Issue 25 event. It consisted as a space for the visitors to come sit down and experiment with playing DIY-instruments and found objects, connected to mixers and sound systems through contact microphones.

Towards the end of the event, we invited the public to join-in two jam performances (of roughly 20 minutes each) and collectively create an improvised symphony in front of the audience.

In each performance, the beginning resembled a cacophony of sounds, as most people were getting to know, experiment and intuitively play their instruments for the first time. Yet in both of the sessions, around the last five-minute mark, something mystical happened! As if through Magic, everyone playing suddenly attuned to each other and a true orchestra emerged. Making:

✧ Magic through connection and collective creation ✧

Especially music, as a form of art, can be magical and moving, and a way of connecting to fellow humans through collective experience.

For one of the try-out night protocols, I derived the spells from song lyrics that feel magical to me.

During a discussion with someone who tried the protocol, they said that they also view music as form of Magic. They said: "Sometimes music forces you to move and dance, like you're under a spell."

SI#26 ✧ A 3DS Webzine ➭

As the result of looking into media archeology and alternative web-browsing devices within the Special Issue 26, we created a 3DS-only webzine. The project looked into the capabilities of the Nintendo 3DS's discontinued Netfront browser in regards to web-design using CSS, HTML and JavaScript.

We reverse-engineered its limitations to create a dungeon-crawler like browser game that could only be fully experienced through the 3DS, as opposed to the optimized capabilities of current web browsers and devices. Making:

✧ Magic through knowledge and the subversion of existing system ✧

This form of Magic comes back to creating a sense of agency within the limitations we are given.

Although Magic is sometimes advertised as a tool able to change and transform all aspects of life ("if one does it correctly" or pays someone who claims they can), it cannot. And I believe that perpetuating this claim can lead to potentially ignorant and harmful attitudes towards people's lived experiences and actual material conditions.

SI#27 ✧ Almanac'34 ➭

Almanac'34 was a personal project that repurposed the concept of Almanacs and divination as a means to reclaim and comment on the overarching pessimism towards the future of technology, extractivism and the current state of the world that I experienced during the Special Issue 27 classes and discussions.

The zine publication contained 4+ predictions for the year 2034 (speculative fiction), based on the surveyed hopes and dreams of fellow XPUB students and tutors. Making:

✧ Magic through formulating intention and spreading radical hope ✧

(...)This project is based in the idea of radical hopefulness as an anti-capitalist and anti-fascist action. This reflects my deeply held belief that we need hope and a way to envision a better future in order to create positive change and fight the current oppressive systems we live in.

Omens from the Dog Park ➭

As mentioned in my Project Proposal, I have a general interest in "alternative" forms of divination, and using unconventional or everyday tools/methods to divine.

Which is how I created Omens from the Dog Park. A small personal project (on this wiki) that consisted of documenting "omens" (interesting observations and objects) I came across while walking my dog at Museum Park. From each omen, as a writing exercise for myself, I tried to find meaning or construct an ominous prediction from my findings.

Although I have not been keeping up with the project in recent months, I have continued searching for omens and finding:

✧ Magic through grounding myself by observing the ever-changing landscape of my local park ✧

In the week ahead of my first prototyping workshop, I asked my fellow classmates to find and bring their own found-object to craft with, inspired by my own extensive collection of found objects.

I was very happy to hear from a few that the task of finding an object outside made them more aware of their surrounding and eager to spot the interesting things on their walks!

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Pondering..

But what is Art?..

Well..

Although the thesis may not directly attempt to answer this question, the project emerged from a long-felt impression that there is an inherent link binding Art and Magic.

In some ways, Art may be itself a form of Magic. Similarly to it, I view Art as a way to connect with the self, the world and others. And to actively create meaning, express intention and find purpose through creative expression.

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Presently..

My current research question is as follows:

What lays at the intersection of Art and Magic,

and how can it serve as a ground for forming novel and idiosyncratic Magic practices

through creative expression?

In Magic, or more specifically, in Alchemy, exists the concept of Solve et Coagula. (Latin for "to dissolve" and "to coagulate"), representing the idea of breaking down and reconstructing something into a new and elevated form.

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Let's transform the question through this concept..

Protocol for Alchemical Reformulation

① Break down the question into its base components

② Reflect and give additional context to these components

③ Reconfigure them to form a new question

What lays at the intersection of..

Looking for the connecting and/or complementary elements of..

.. Art and Magic ..

As separate fields/modes-of-knowledge with a fluctuating relationship to each other.

Based on the working definitions, other such fields are: Religion and Science. Whether these fixed distinctions are always useful or merely reinforce certain hierarchical ideas, is something I am exploring in my research.

Could it be a spectrum? Rather than a binary opposition.

.. and how can it serve as a ground for forming ..

Deconstructing what binds Magic and Art:

I hope to find fragments of knowledge that can help me form new frameworks and tools for engaging with Magic through creative expression. — Protocols for Magic.

At first glance, protocols may seem antithetical to the idea of Magic and Art the project embodies. They can be inflexible, prescriptive and constricting.

But my aim is to construct protocols as a introductory starting blocks for..

.. novel and idiosyncratic ..

A new perspective and intrinsically personal approach to..

.. Magic practices ..

.. through creative expression ..

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.. ? ..

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✧ ✧ ✧ Reformulations ✧ ✧ ✧

What lays at the intersection of Art and Magic, and how can it serve as a ground for forming

novel and idiosyncratic Magic practices through creative expression?

or

What lays at the intersection of Art and Magic, and how can it serve as a ground for forming

novel and idiosyncratic Magic practices through creative expression?

or

What lays at the intersection of Art and Magic, and how can it serve as a ground for forming

novel and idiosyncratic Magic practices through creative expression?

or

...?

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Prototyping..

Prototype #1

✧ Protocols for Magic Circles ✧

① Transform the given spell into a magic circle using the given key.

Some results:

Key feedback

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Prototyping Workshop

Prior to my prototyping workshop, I asked people to bring a found object to craft with..

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✧ Protocols..✧

✧ Protocol for Spell-Writing ✧

✧ Protocol for Pictorial Interpretation ✧

✧ Protocol for Collective Correspondences ✧

✧ Protocol for Talismans ✧

Some results:

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Key feedback

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Try-Out Night Prototypes

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✧ Protocols for Magic Circles 2.0. ✧

Individually:

① Draw one of the Spell cards to see which spell you will work with.

② Transcribe your spell by interpreting it through the terms represented in the Table of Symbols.

③ Create a Magic Circle/ sigilic composition based on your previous symbolic interpretation.

Some results:

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Key feedback

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✧ Protocols for Altarcation ✧

In a group of two to three:

① Each person take a devotion card and read your prompt without revealing it to each other!

② Together, choose a blank paper altar

③ Together, create one altar that (secretly) fulfills both your prompts, by cutting-out, arranging, drawing, collaging with the available material.

④ Once done, reveal your secret prompts to each other and give your collective altar a new title!

Some results:

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Key feedback

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What lays ahead..

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