The Magic Surface: Wonder, Transfromation and Imagination in Contemporary Art

Abstract

The aim of this research paper is to interrogate the term magic and to ascertain its appropriateness as a descriptor for the captivation I feel in response to certain everyday material expression, which I explore in my own work, and observe in the artistic practice of other artists. Through engaging with the theories and writing of scientific disciplines such as mineralogy and interfacial science, along with the writings of natural philosophy and natural magic I test whether I can separate the term magic from its familiar supernatural incarnation, leading to a reconsidering and expanding of what magic might encompass, and potentially, make a case for the magical quality of surface materiality and phenomena. In my research paper I survey different aspects and cases of what I identify as ‘everyday magic’. In the first chapter I begin by concentrating on the lustre and finish of reflective surfaces and locate a linage of artists, writers and natural philosophers who are also transfixed by the wondrous quality of lustrous surfaces. In chapter two I focus on material transformations that occur at the interfacial region between surfaces, and in chapter three I look at the use of surface applications such as gilding and veneers, and the ways in which they invite a kind of imaginative perception. Throughout the paper I survey a number of contemporary artists and relate their works as well as my own to the various ideas centred around surface and magic outlined in each chapter.