MAGIE NOUVELLE - Circostrada Network

NEW MAGIC
THE EMERGENCE
OF A CONTEMPORARY ART
“All of our research can be helpful to art”
Let’s travel to India to find street magicians, collaborations with philosophers, ethnologists, searches through
old archives, work on current technologies... new magic can lead to all different kinds of studies.
Stradda: New magic is also
interested in the humanities.
Can you tell us about your
areas of research
Raphaël Navarro: A first
section concerns research
techniques, which include several
components. The historical
field – based on the means by
which magic was conceived in
relation to different time periods
and geographic zones, notably
in search of forgotten thought
patterns – is coupled with an
ethnological and anthropological
aspect, in collaboration with
Valentine Losseau, (doctoral
student at the laboratory of
social anthropology at the
Collège de France), a scholar
in constant contact with new
magic. She carries out studies in
the field with Lacandon Mayas
in Mexico. The question of
magic in different parts of the
world – whether its function is
religious, pre-scientific, esoteric
or traditional – is for us a crucial
element of understanding the
role of perception of the real.
Could you describe for us your
fieldwork on traditional magic
R.N.: Our movement also
works to build bridges between
modern Western magic and
traditional forms of magic. For
example, India is a case in point:
traditional street magicians
represent a separate caste.
We conduct on-site research
regarding lost or forgotten tricks,
not only to give them back to
the magic community, but also
to understand the elements
behind these tricks and what
kind of symbols they put into
use. Yearly trips are made to
India, to which we invite modern
French magicians in collaboration
with the Fédération française
des artistes prestidigitateurs.
Conferences are also organised
in France to encourage exchange
between the network of
subsidised performance spaces
and artists from variety shows
or traditional magic, who do not
know each other. For example,
in 2008, such a gathering was
organized near Paris at the
Chaufferie of the Compagnie DCA
– Philippe Decouflé.
Are these field activities
accompanied by academic
research
R.N.: We do draw from the
philosophy and history of
religions through exchange with
scholars like Xavier Papaïs, a
lecturer at the École Normale
Supérieure, or Jean-Pierre
Warnier, co-founder of the group
of researchers Matière à penser.
The academic network is essential
for us. The erudite points of
view that develop there put forth
aesthetic or social proposals that
can nourish art.
Is there another study section
for different techniques...
R.N.: We work on the history
of techniques, both magic
– by looking at old engravings,
theatrical machinery or optical
principles – and mechanical,
in the nautical domain, for
example. The resurgence of all
of these forgotten procedures
since the arrival of motors or
of electricity add to the current
experiments – on new material
or new technologies – to perfect
innovative magic techniques.
We are thus in partnership with
many state-of-the-art companies
for the first aspects, and we are
creating software for the second.
Would you say that you are
trying to outline the perception
of the real by multiple entry
points so as to better divert it
R.N.: These various experiments
are inspired, lastly, by research
on the workings of perception
of the real from a mental and
physiological point of view:
brain activity, memory, social
psychology, psychoanalysis... We
thus open pathways alongside
ethology (the study of animal
behaviour) to try to understand
if magic is an innate principle
of life – since animals use
techniques of illusion and
mimicry in both the hunt and
seduction – or to know if
animals might have some kind
of perception of the surreal. All
of this research can be helpful to
art; these domains are still very
airtight, but they have a lot to
offer each other.
How is the research formalised
R.N.: The transmission takes
place through training and public
events: conferences, seminars,
exhibits...
We also carry out legal work
with the jurist and magician
Guilhem Julia, aiming to propose
copyright laws for magic. In the
end, we would like to create a
research centre for new magic.
Because aside from being a
creative movement, it is truly an
independent artistic principle:
a motor that is becoming the
vector of different expressions,
aesthetics, or even techniques
regarding the arts, carried out by
many artists and companies.
★ TEXT COMPILED BY J.B.
dossier from stradda #16 / page 7