Trugbilder / Mirages
On three video projection screens one can see magicians performing their tricks. The sequences have different setting sizes and image formats. There are no comments or explanations; only the noises of their actions can be heard. The setting is focused on the individual hand movements. Because of the simultaneity of the sequences it is hard to follow how the magic tricks work.
Magic art aims to deceive – and that is precisely what fascinates us. Like film, magic is primarily about creating illusions. Historically, magic art is a direct precursor to film. In 1888, George Meliés took over the theater of magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin and transformed it into a cinema in 1896. Inspired by film pioneers August and Louis Lumière, who had a studio in the same building, Meliés combined his own magic skills with the animation effects of film.
Magicians: Jan Gerken, Kolja Kaldun, Lisa Spirit, Felix Wohlfarth; director of photography: Thomas Kutschker; assistance: Elisa Goméz Alvarez and Büke Schwarz; concept and editing: Anna Anders; post production: Franziska Röhlig; sound design: Christian Obermaier