The Three Degrees in Art

Chapter 2 - The Three Degrees in Art

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In magic, then, the normal artist is he who takes materials which are the common property of all who practice his art, and utilizes those materials for his own particular ends. His general purpose, of course, like that of all magicians, is the simulation of supernatural effects. And, in the achievement of that purpose, the work done by the normal artist in magic will fall within one of three categories, which may be outlined as follows:

  1. The use of familiar methods, in a familiar combination, to produce a familiar effect, but with some originality in presentation.

  2. The use of familiar methods, in a novel form of combination, to produce a familiar effect, the manner of presentation displaying some originality.

  3. The use of familiar methods, in any form of combination, to produce a novel effect, the presentation of which must necessarily possess more or less originality.

Everything which is not contained in those three very extensive categories must be something which is either greater or less than Normal Art in Magic. It must approximate either to False Art at one extreme, or to High Art at the other.

In our Normal Art, as already defined, it will be noted that every department possesses one characteristic that is common to all, viz., originality of presentation. And, having carried our investigation thus far, we are able to see that, without the saving grace of original presentation, a magician's work must necessarily degenerate into False Art. The extent of such degeneration will be exactly commensurate with the degree to which that work imitates the work of other magicians. In other words, the degeneration is proportionate to the imitation of art. The very moment we detect the existence of art which imitates art, we know we are face to face with falsity, more or less pronounced. On that point we need have no fear of being mistaken. Knowing what we know, our estimate of a magician's merit will be governed mainly by this particular consideration. When we recognize the presence of False Art, we prepare ourselves to estimate the depth to which the magician will sink. When we note the absence of False Art, we prepare to observe the height to which the magician will rise. Therein we instinctively act upon the dictates of common sense and common justice.

Turning to the other extreme, however, we find that our Normal Art presents a very wide field for expansion, and is capable of attaining a very high level of merit. Indeed, it may be raised to a level which approximates very closely to High Art; so closely, in fact, that it encroaches upon the hinterland dividing the two higher sections of art. In this respect, everything depends upon the amount of original accomplishment displayed. The essential truth of this latter statement will become more apparent when we proceed to discuss the actual characteristics of High Art in Magic.

We must never lose sight of the fact that in magic, as in all intellectual occupations, Normal Art is by far the most important department. High Art is a sporadic and accidental development that may be productive of beneficial influences, if only it can secure due appreciation. In any event, however, its influence can never be otherwise than for the good. False Art is a parasitic growth that can only be productive of evil, and should never be permitted to live. Between the two there lies Normal Art, which includes the vast bulk of magical representations, and upon the elevation of which all true progress depends. It is useless to point out the merits exhibited by the work of this or that exponent, and say--"See how high a level magic has attained!" It is unjust to quote the doings of certain so-called "artists," and say-"See the depths to which magic has become degraded!" The true status of magic, as an art, can only be ascertained by means of evidence derived from the work of accredited Normal Artists. The more nearly our Normal Art, as a whole, can be made to approach the status of High Art, the greater will be the elevation attained by magic. The more nearly our Normal Art approximates to False Art, the lower must the whole art of magic sink. These statements admit of no dispute, as any man of ordinary intelligence can perceive. By our Normal Art, we must either stand or fall. There is no help for it. If Normal Art becomes debased, no individual genius can save it. If Normal Art is represented by men who respect their art, no charlatan, however notorious, can ever degrade it.

The future of our art, then, rests with the Normal Artist. Upon him depends the ultimate development of magic. If he is not true to his art, the false artist will in the end reign supreme. In such circumstances, magic must relinquish all hope of attaining a position among the Fine Arts. It must be relegated to the position of a mechanical art--an inferior mechanical art--lower even than that of a circus juggler.

This is obvious, because, from the standpoint of mechanical art, the juggler's attainments are far higher than those of a magician. The .latter can only take a higher place by realizing that he has to depend for success upon his brains, rather than upon his hands. In manipulative skill, he is hopelessly outclassed by the juggler. The amount of practice and physical training he requires cannot in any, way be compared with that which is needed by the juggler. If, therefore, the Normal Artist in magic insists upon regarding his art as a mere congeries of mechanical accomplishments, he must be content to occupy a position inferior to that of a skilled mechanic.

The question of manipulative skill, as considered in relation to the respective accomplishments of the conjurer, the juggler and the artificer, may be put in a nutshell. Where the conjurer requires weeks of practice, the juggler requires months. And where the juggler requires months of practice, the skilled mechanic requires years. This is written, remember , by men who know what they are talking about-who are familiar with the three kinds of training in question. Mere opinion does not enter into the matter at all. As a mechanical art (i.e., as a form of manipulative skill), magic occupies a very low position indeed. Only as an intellectual pursuit can it claim to be regarded as an art.

At times we have conversed with conjurers, professional and amateur, who have become momentarily enamored of some original or newly-introduced manipulation. In such cases, it is singularly interesting to note the attitude of mind displayed by the enthusiast. He is proud of his attainment as though it were an infant prodigy of whom he was the parent. He speaks of it in rapturous terms, as though it represented the highest achievement of which the magic art is capable. And no doubt if he were questioned on the point he would say that, in his opinion, the production of such ingenious devices must be regarded as the high-water mark of Art in Magic. When, however, we apply to such matters the touchstone of actual knowledge, we have no difficulty in seeing that the judgment proceed by our enthusiast is wildly wide of the mark. Greater folly, noun indeed, could hardly be put into words. To say that any mere manipulation can possibly be regarded as a work of High Art, is to sound the depths of absurdity. Manipulative processes are only one small

very portion of the means whereby the purposes of art are served. They are useful-indeed they are indispensable. But so are the brushes of the painter, and the chisels of the sculptor. In the work of an artist, mere handicraft has a value very little higher than that of the utensils employed therein. The only adjunct to which pride of place may be assigned is the artistic brain which conceives and directs the purposes of handicraft and utensils alike.

To complete the preliminary stage of our investigation, we shall now discuss the essential features of High Art in Magic. As in previous instances, we must first define precisely what we mean by the term "High Art" and ascertain what it is that, provably, constitutes the quality in question.

Herein we are confronted by no shadow of difficulty, either in connection with general principles or with specific details. High Art in Magic is, in every essential, the counterpart of High Art in other callings. It is that which originates and executes truly artistic conceptions. It represents the most complete triumph of mind over matter. It exists only in its power to create, but its creations are, humanly speaking, imperishable. As Shakespeare says:

"Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme."

--Sonnet LV.

Those words are applicable, in principle, to High Art of every kind. When, for instance, we review the history of magic, we cannot fail to recognize the inherent immortality of those works which have possessed the qualities essential to High Art. The work of the magician, like that of the actor, is among the ephemera of civilization. The magician himself leaves behind him very little beyond a name. Yet how great is the intrinsic value of that little, reckoned in hard cash. Its extrinsic value is, at the same time, immeasurable. In the bare records handed down to us in the history of magic, an immensity of progress and a wealth of honestly artistic accomplishment are epitomized. Those who know the vast amount of hammering that has to be done before even the faintest echo of their work is heard by others, can read between the written lines and fill in the blank spaces of history. Thus they are able to appreciate the achievements of their predecessors, with some approach to accuracy.

When, from the vantage point of knowledge and experience, we review the history of magic, we instinctively realize that the achievements which live are those which truly possess the character of High Art. They are the works of creative genius-the works of Master Magicians, whose mastery was due to an innate sense of the principles which underlie true art. Dispossessed of that sense, those men would never have occupied the place in history which now is theirs by right.

The degree to which their work was dominated by artistic principles is evident to anyone who undertakes a dispassionate study of the matter.

If we bring an open mind to bear upon the achievements of Past Masters in Magic, and compare the purely technical merit of those works with that displayed in other branches of invention, the comparison thus instituted is very far from being favorable to magic. On the contrary, it shows magic in a very poor light. Regarded in that light, magic appears to consist merely in a series of second-rate mechanical devices and childishly simple processes. Such is the actual fact, beyond all possibility of dispute. Hence the obvious folly, as already stated, of imagining that the Art of Magic is represented by sleights" and "fakes." Such devices only constitute a branch--a very insignificant branch-of mechanical handicraft, and nothing more. To regard the Art of Magic in so unworthy a light is a serious blunder-proverbially worse than a crime. The art we profess is not contained in the mere devices we employ, nor does the history of our art consist in a catalog of the devices handed down to us. If, in magic, such things were all that could be claimed, this book could never have been written. If matters of pure technique--mere handicraft--were all we had to discuss, the phrase "Art in Magic" would represent a solecism of the first water. Fortunately for us, however, magic occupies a far higher plane than that of the actual means it employs. Such is the case in every art; for art of any kind can only begin where processes end. As grammar is to literature, or versification to poetry, so are sleights and fakes to magic. Such things are the means, not the end of art. In other arts, this fact is clearly understood and appreciated; but in magic neither the literature nor the general practice of the art has so far shown any indication of a true under standing of this most vital question. Surely it is our bounded duty to do our utmost toward correcting this lamentable defect. When that correction has been duly made-and not until then-magic will attain the position among fine arts to which it is justly entitled. To return, however, to the history of magic, there is one obvious question that arises. In view of what has already been said, wherein lies the true merit-the High Art-of the classic productions handed down to us? That question is easily answered. And, still more easily, can we say wherein the true merit of those productions does not consist. For example, it does not consist in, the inventive ability, as ordinarily understood, of the old masters. It does not consist in the mechanical ingenuity they displayed. It does not consist in the manipulative skill at their command. It does not consist in the theoretical knowledge they possessed, nor in the practical experience they gained. Such elementary matters barely touch the fringe of true art. Thus, by the simple process of exclusion, we arrive at the only possible answer. The true merit of the masterpieces in question consists in the originality they display, and the perfection with which they simulate the operation of supernatural influences. The honors gained by Master Magician s have been due to a genius for conceiving and fulfilling the requirements of artistic originality. In every art, the Master is he who can produce original effects, and understands how to present them in an original and convincing manner.

Thus there are three elementary facts which are well worthy of remembrance. Without thorough knowledge, no man can become a true artist. Without honorable ambition, no man can become a high artist. And without originality no man can become a great artist. Of course, we cannot all attain the greatness to which the Master Magicians are so worthily entitled. We cannot all hope to become exponents of the highest art in magic. But we can all, at least, try to do so, and in proportion to our united efforts in this direction, we shall raise the status of magic as an art.

In this connection we may advantageously bear in mind the words written centuries ago by Sir Philip Sidney:

"Who shootes at the mid-day sonne, though he be sure he shall never hit the marke, yet as sure he is he shall shoote higher than who aymes but at a bush."
That kind of "shootynge" represents a perfect analogy to the methods of High Art. The actual end can never be attained; but, nevertheless, every true artist will endeavor to approach it as nearly as his natural abilities will permit. The heights we reach are all that may be counted to us for righteousness. A lifetime of effort, upon one dead level, is of less value than a single step toward higher aims. And at the same time every artist knows that, whatever may be the height he attains, his successors will go higher still. He has built upon foundations laid by others, and others in turn will build upon the foundations he has laid. He can only say to posterity, in Kipling's words:
"After me cometh a Builder. Tell him, I too have known."* * "The Five Nations," p. 66.
Having made ourselves acquainted with certain fundamental truths, we may now pass on to the consideration of specific principles. Our best course, undoubtedly, will be to investigate various important qualities associated with the art of magic; and thus deduce certain rules, whereby the production of artistic results may be facilitated.

Here, however, we must be careful to avoid falling into a very common error. We must not be drawn into a belief that, in art of any kind, there is or can be any specific rule which may not be set aside upon occasion. Cast-iron regulations are antagonistic to every form of art. It is impossible to give recipes whereby the creation of artistic effects may be assured. It is only possible to lay down rules for the avoidance of certain ascertained defects, and even such rules are not capable of rigid observance at all times. Their operation is controlled by attendant circumstances; and, in order to use them to full advantage, their scope and meaning must be fully understood. At the same time, there is one general rule whereby at all times our procedure may be governed. That rule may be stated as follows:

(1) Never set aside any accepted rule, unless it is absolutely necessary to do so for some clearly defined reason.

The application of this rule will become increasing evident as we proceed with our investigation. For the present it will suffice to say that when we have reasoned out and formulated a logical conclusion, that conclusion should be adhered to so far as may be possible. Thus, when no valid reason can be given for breaking an accepted rule, the latter should be obeyed. With this preamble, we may proceed to the detailed inquiry we have in view, treating each particular quality of art under its own separate heading.

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