Art of magic in Great Britain between 1860s and 1910s. Artistic expression of the impossible

By Alexey Pivovarov - Russian fella I think

Not sure if this link will work but one can find it as a PDF on Google

https://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.d......arov.pdf

It is a wonderful little book in my view. I am sure some here will be well aware of it but it was new to me.

Thanks for sharing this. Looks like an interesting read.

Pursuit of naturalness

“In the second chapter, I have pointed out the importance of realism in magic shows. Magicians recreated impossible effects while claiming to achieve them with science. The rational exploration of the irrational and the desire to capture the supernatural with scientific precision and recreate it in the form of a believable visual experience was an important trend for various art fields.”

I think that’s funny.

That's a fun read tommy, thanks

How apropos that the author closes the work by quoting Einstein: "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science."

it seems you and Whit have it about reflecting the world in a fun house mirror. Seeing the absurd and impossible safely from the theater seat. Aristotle wrote about simulated nature (mimesis) in poetics. And Shakespeare about "the mirror up to nature".

Fairy tales are so much more comfortable than nature as we find it.