In magic, as with good art or design, the viewer must be willing to take part in an entertaining deception. Most art lovers walk into a gallery with an open mind and abide by a social agreement to absorb the room as it is with the assumption that everything is appearing as it’s meant to be. We don’t think about our own perception. For interior design, we do this by creating unique smoke and mirrors tricks within a space. Interesting decorating and architecture reveals the difference between what “is” and what we simply perceive. Italian interiors from the Renaissance and Baroque capture the essence and power of illusion.
You remember those old movies. Two villains are plotting over a scotch and then: boom! One character flips a normal bookcase and it opens into a secret room. It’s shocking to the viewer because it’s beyond the realm of possibility at that moment. Design can function in the same way; it was a trick door covered by a bookcase that hid Anne Frank in the attic!
Take Teller – the famed silent magician partner of Penn – a man who takes his job seriously to the point that his Las Vegas home is one giant confidence trick, and who by the way has one of those secret bookcases that opens. A window at the end of his entrance hallway shows a majestic city view until you walk into it and smash your face. It’s actually a mirror. In another area, lights slowly shift into different colors, revealing new objects, angles and spatial relationships in a discombobulating manner. The point: you have to expect an illusion to spot an illusion. Take a tour of Teller’s house by clicking on the following link to see what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoksoGBtpJ0
By Helen Varola
One of the central dichotomies that I’ll repeatedly reference on Art Meets Design is the relationship between magic and design. The concept of conjuring (meaning, the act of cunning, conning and creating illusion) relates to design through our collective willingness to participate and drop suspicion in a given environment. Say what? I’ll explain.
In magic, as with good art or design, the viewer must be willing to take part in an entertaining deception. Most art lovers walk into a gallery with an open mind and abide by a social agreement to absorb the room as it is with the assumption that everything is appearing as it’s meant to be. We don’t think about our own perception. For interior design, we do this by creating unique smoke and mirrors tricks within a space. Interesting decorating and architecture reveals the difference between what “is” and what we simply perceive. Italian interiors from the Renaissance and Baroque capture the essence and power of illusion.
You remember those old movies. Two villains are plotting over a scotch and then: boom! One character flips a normal bookcase and it opens into a secret room. It’s shocking to the viewer because it’s beyond the realm of possibility at that moment. Design can function in the same way; it was a trick door covered by a bookcase that hid Anne Frank in the attic!
Take Teller – the famed silent magician partner of Penn – a man who takes his job seriously to the point that his Las Vegas home is one giant confidence trick, and who by the way has one of those secret bookcases that opens. A window at the end of his entrance hallway shows a majestic city view until you walk into it and smash your face. It’s actually a mirror. In another area, lights slowly shift into different colors, revealing new objects, angles and spatial relationships in a discombobulating manner. The point: you have to expect an illusion to spot an illusion. Take a tour of Teller’s house by clicking on the following link to see what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoksoGBtpJ0
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