MAGIE NOUVELLE - Circostrada Network

tion: their presence is justified.” Here magic is a
way of developing a situation within a codified or
routine framework, such as that of hearing for “La
Parade des hiboux” (2010). The musicians’ agony
takes shape through a rebellious piano or a fabric
that transforms into a ghost to haunt the thoughts
of the pianist...
Contemporary psyche
Because of the fantasies that it taps into – reading
minds, telekinesis... – mentalism is rooted in
contemporary issues. In the vain of modern magicians
demystifying fake spiritualists at the end of the
nineteenth century, Gwen Aduh, from the Compagnie
des Femmes à barbe, scoffs at “the paranormal
and its impostures”, from the sale of fake miracle
pills (“Les Gélules 4 couleurs de M et Mme Li”), to
the telepathy of ufology (“Partons pour Pluton”),
or the simulacra of shamanism (“Amanita Muscaria”).
The artist uses techniques of magic – illusion,
physical conditioning – in fully thought-out worlds
“Influences”, by the company, Le Phalène - Thierry Collet.
Thierry Collet The primitive concern
should be a contemporary form, in touch with the
political, social and religious questions of its time”; as early
“Magic
as his first encounter with magic – and his discovery of the
visual theatre of Philippe Genty or Mummenschanz in the 70’s – Thierry
Collet was driven by the desire to give meaning to a discipline that
seem to sorely need it. After his training as an actor and four shows of
narrative magic, his last two creations have centred around mentalism:
“We manipulate thoughts, not objects. Something very profound about
magic is expressed: the relationship to power. The frame of the show is,
of course, harmless. But the idea is nonetheless to represent a mental
authority that takes control over a group with its tacit permission.”
The societal angle, which was outlined in “Même si c’est faux, c’est
vrai” (2007) with the theme of the mindset of the consumer, continues
with “Influences.” Playing the role of the expert, the professor and the
sales representative, the artist offers a series of shared experiences,
indicating the mechanisms at work in the manufacturing of consent.
Beyond a denunciation of these methods, there is also a desire to
question its roots. “I bring together the feeling of magic and a primitive
concern. I am interested in looking for the need that sets off the desire
for enchantment, utopia, the will to hand oneself over to a mental
authority.” ★ J.B.
www.thierrycollet.net
© NATHANIEL BARUCH
that always offer a double interpretation: “For me,
magic is an extension of religion. In the end, I am
always confused by human credulity, the enthusiasm
for paranormal phenomena... which all help me to
create my shows!” For Scorpène, mental magic is
a way of playing with one’s points of reference to
allow a different perception of reality. Sharpening
an astute observation of the other acquired in a
career as a chess player, then looking to destabilise
the real by bringing the visible and the subliminal
together in live video performances, the artist makes
use of three major pillars – “alchemy, quantum ➜
© PATRICK BOSC
© SATYA ROOSENS
Kurt Demey The mentalist city
the most fertile terrain for cultivating illusions.” That is how
Kurt Demey, the Flemish multidisciplinary artist describes the
“It is
public space. After “L’Homme cornu” (2008), he is again using,
in “La ville qui respire” (2010-2011 creation), mentalist techniques as
artistic tools and thus makes magic a fundamental ingredient in his
dramaturgical work. The spectator, taken in by five short sequences
with a minimalist aesthetic, is plunged into “small urban rituals that
destabilise their usual context of references”, provoking confusion and
uncertainty. Such is the case in
the enigmatic scene where a liquid
contained in a glass jar turns out to
be flammable... while a spectator has
just taken a drink out of it as if it
were water. For Kurt Demey, the city
is full of tales and stories hidden in
its recesses; invisible remains of past
lives. Magic is an opening toward
this invisible element, the fault line
from which poetry springs out, when
logical deductions fail. ★ A.G.
www.rodeboom.be
“L’Homme cornu”,
by Kurt Demey / Rode Boom.
dossier from stradda #16 / page 11