Enchanted Art and Other Ensorcellments (or, That AI Painting is Probably Cursed)

Presented by Aaron Gach of the Center for Tactical Magic

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If art isn’t performing some sort of magic, is it really even art?  From the illusory to the transcendental, from the divinatory to the deceitful, art across history and cultures has long sought to unlock the mysteries of human perception and experience.  What kinds of magic does contemporary art perform today?  How does it enchant, enrich, invoke, or misdirect?  In this interactive event, Aaron Gach of the Center for Tactical Magic will spelunk the crevices of recent trends in contemporary art in an attempt to illuminate the depths of creative inquiry and discern between the treasures and the trolls hiding in the shadows of our aesthetic affairs. 

Inspired by studies with a private investigator, a magician, and a ninja, Aaron Gach established the Center for Tactical Magic in 2000 as a collaborative authoring framework dedicated to the coalescence of art, magic, and creative tactics for encouraging positive social change. Although the collaborations take many different forms, the work is largely the result of creative partnerships with a wide array of individuals and organizations, including hypnotists, biologists, engineers, activists, nurses, military intelligence officers, journalists, radical ecologists, former bank robbers, security experts, street vendors, community organizers, and many others. CTM projects have been presented by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art; Hayward Gallery, London; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Vigo, Spain; Deutsches Theater, Berlin; and a major public commission for the City of Toronto.  For more info: tacticalmagic.org or @tacticalmagic1