TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward a Theory of Exposure
AU - Rappert, Brian
AU - Kuhn, Gustav
PY - 2024/10/27
Y1 - 2024/10/27
N2 - Excited attention towards the disclosure of methods – what is termed ‘exposure’– infuses both popular and practitioners’ portrayals of entertainment magic. As an art associated with ‘doing the impossible’, the disclosure of methods is widely held as ruining the prospects for experiencing astonishment. For all its familiarity, however, exposure is rarely subject to extended consideration in the thoughts and theories of professional magicians. In line with a tradition of conceiving of magic as a form of social interaction constituted through the relations between audiences and performers, this article offers a theorization of exposure; one grounded in empirical research with magicians. Varied notions of ‘boundary work’ are engaged which provide means for doing justice to the nuances of what it means to expose the secrets of magic. As an intervention into ongoing debates about what counts as appropriate conduct, the ultimate aim of the article is to help re-imagine what is at stake in conjuring.
AB - Excited attention towards the disclosure of methods – what is termed ‘exposure’– infuses both popular and practitioners’ portrayals of entertainment magic. As an art associated with ‘doing the impossible’, the disclosure of methods is widely held as ruining the prospects for experiencing astonishment. For all its familiarity, however, exposure is rarely subject to extended consideration in the thoughts and theories of professional magicians. In line with a tradition of conceiving of magic as a form of social interaction constituted through the relations between audiences and performers, this article offers a theorization of exposure; one grounded in empirical research with magicians. Varied notions of ‘boundary work’ are engaged which provide means for doing justice to the nuances of what it means to expose the secrets of magic. As an intervention into ongoing debates about what counts as appropriate conduct, the ultimate aim of the article is to help re-imagine what is at stake in conjuring.
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/psy-research/article/2010/viewcontent/jpm_1512_rappert.pdf
U2 - 10.5920/jpm.1512
DO - 10.5920/jpm.1512
M3 - Article
SN - 2051-6037
VL - 7
JO - The Journal of Performance Magic
JF - The Journal of Performance Magic
IS - 1
ER -