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[bispsolutions]

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[miru5llec]

Theories about seers and their powers in the next books

(+my scrambled thoughts)

I do not understand the people who still think Elain is boring or weak. At the moment she’s one of, if not the most interesting character that we haven’t yet seen their story in the series.

People are talking as if Elain is not gonna finally pop off in the next book which is 100% hers. So why are we still discussing this. No heroine of SJM was weak, let’s make that clear. Not Lysandra, not Yrene, not Elide, not Manon and especialy not her main characters Aelin, Feyre, Bryce and Nesta. So what makes you think that Elain is going to be boring in her own book?

Let’s remember the fact that SJM never wrote about seers or their powers in her previous books, so all of this is new to us as readers and it can be quite overwhelming because we don’t know the depth of their powers. They were just briefly mentioned: in tog we have this gem “She knew they’d be powerful: seers had once used bloodbane as a drug to view spirits from other worlds.” and also this “I’m afraid I can’t be of service,” Mort sniffed. “If you want an instant answer, you should find yourself a seer or an oracle.”

In CC however, we meet a quite interesting and mysterious creature, also known as a Sphinx, called The Oracle. So to make a little comparison between an oracle and a seer:

Oracle = a person acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods

Seer = a person who sees; observer. a person who prophesies future events; a person endowed with profound moral and spiritual insight or knowledge; a wise person or sage who possesses intuitive powers

Basicaly, an oracle and a seer both have sight powers, but seers have a little something more.

And also, The Oracle from CC is a very interesting character and I wonder if SJM will drop little hints at Elain’s powers through her in HOSAB.

“Behind the smoke, a figure moved. “I wondered when the Shadow of Death would darken my chamber,” a lovely voice said. Young, full of light and amusement—and yet tinged with ancient cruelty.”

“Ask me your question, and I shall tell you what the smoke whispers to me.”

“Once the gods speak, I become the conduit through which their words pass.”

(Take a look at this post too about possible seer powers that we might see in Elain’s book)

SJM most probably took advantage of the fact that we don’t know much about seers and teased us about it: Amren saying not to underestimate her, Rhysand telling Feyre that there’s more to Elain than it seems, the little hint that Elain may have gotten out of the Cauldron with more powers that we know of.

I truly think SJM wanted to keep Elain and her abilities a secret. She did that purposefully. We can all agree that Elain is not the type of heroine that would wield a sword, but rather daggers and knives, so where it lacks in combat, it makes up in magic skills.

And also, the Cauldron has such interesting reactions to Elain and maybe we will learn why soon enough.

In the acotar universe, the only seer that we know of is Elain. There are some theories that the Bone Carver, Stryga or even Azriel’s mother are seers, but the only one who is actualy confirmed is Elain. So here it truly depends on what SJM wants to do with the seers. How rare she wants to make them.

Maybe there are more seers that we’re not aware of, maybe there are some seers in the Prison because they messed up and changed the course of history unintentionally, did something bad and thus were sent there. Maybe there are witches who also have sight powers.

For example, in tog the Blueblood witches had a vision of the Witch Kingdom under Ironteeth rule. They were the ones that mustered the Clans to fight against the Crochans, forming the Ironteeth Alliance. So maybe they have sight abilities too. AND the most interesting fact is that the blueblood matron also represents the maiden aspect of the Three-Faced Goddess (👀👀), and therefore will always be a relatively young witch.

That’s the point. We don’t know anything about seers or their lore. That’s why I’m so excited about the next book. Seers are always secondary characters who help the hero, never the main character. They’re always brushed off after they serve their purpose. And it will be so awesome because, we, as readers, normaly follow the hero in their journey and we never know what’s gonna happen next so whenever the MC makes a choice, we see the immediate consequence. Well, having a seer as a MC will probably change that because they see every foreseeable future and so every choice they make is to prevent or to help reach a certain vision. They already know the consequences of their choices. So realy they just need to decide which choices to dodge and what choices to keep. It’s very tricky if you think about it.

And acotar 5 is Elain’s book. Not only because of all the crumbs in acosf and what SJM said in all of her interviews and lives, but because of Elain’s character. What would be the point of dragging Elain’s character through another book, leave again crumbs all over the story and again write one or two bonus POVs that have her as the main focus, just to give her the last book, when she already did all of this in acosf? And because of Azriel’s “secret”, that SJM talked about before Nesta’s book was out, being about Elain herself, the undeniable parallels between Wings and Embers and Azriel’s POV, it’s clear as day that Az will be the second MC and that elriel will happen.

No cuz let’s think a little bit about this. Both POVs clearly confirm a certain aspect of Elain’s journey. The Az pov for the forbidden romance (and also for confirming him as the second MC) and the Feysand pov for Elain’s character arc. (And the crumbs from acosf for the plot.)

Elriel is vital to the plot. Both Az and Elain have ties with the autumn court and Koschei at some degree and will resolve a certain conflict (The Blood Duel + the breaking of the mating bond + probably Beron’s death for the autumn court conflict and The Fourth Dread Trove for the Koschei plotline) And as SJM herself said: “I love happily ever afters, I thrive on them, and I think that anyone picking up my books will know that there is a happy ending, but my characters will have to work hard, and occasionally suffer greatly, to get it.” And who has to suffer the most to reach their happy ending if not Elain and Azriel.

[thereadingcellar]

** spoiler alert ** My Review of The Shadow Glass To think that this fantastic story landed in my lap because I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review of The Bone Witch. This was such an all consuming trilogy with bits and pieces of different books it reminded me of: the Witcher (the way the runes were drawn and it has a bard), Memoirs of a Geisha (the way the asha are trained), Twilight (the way Kalen tells Tea not to move when he kisses her for the first time in the 2nd book–Edward and Bella much?), a little bit of Avatar, the Last Air Bender (the different elemental powers used, wind, water, fire, air, earth) Harry Potter (betrayal of teachers and dragons aka the aza), The Bear and the Nightingale (a powerful woman coming into her own powers to right wrongs society has accepted), I read somewhere a little bit of GOT but I never watched/read those books…I know, gasp. Mulan (how Kalen trains Tea super hard, kind of like how Li Shang trains Mulan). And some Divergent (anti hero giving her life for the better good, brooding handsome love interest). How could one not love the this? First of all, THANK YOU RIN CHUPECO (not sure if you’ll ever see this review) for a couple things: 1. Creating this amazing story that consumed my life while obeying Stay at Home Orders 2. Softening the blow of Kalen’s death by giving us a heads up in the first book. GOOD LORD, I still cried when he actually died. Also, did anyone else picture a younger, buff, Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) as Kalen?! No? Just me? 3. The loving sibling relationship between Tea and Fox until the very end 4. and Kalen’s POV on your blog. Honestly, you knew we would need that and you delivered. Can you please write all 3 books in his point of view?! Please. I do have a question though. Given how there was so much LGBTQ representation from many of the characters, was Prince Kance asexual? 1. He admits he had no feelings for Inessa, 2. thought of Tea as a sister (which, even though we’re happy she’s with Kalen, come on! I wish he would’ve had at least a little crush on Tea!), and 3. He never really pursued a relationship with anyone or showed any interest. If so, kudos for the serious representation. Likh. How can you not love Likh and her journey, her transformation, from male to female. Her reasoning, explaining what it felt like to be born in the wrong body and wanting to finally feel comfortable in her own skin; the reader can’t help but want Likh to be loved and accepted. Then finding love with Khalad, accepting her just the way she is, yet being completely oblivious to her (and his own) feelings for the longest time. The innocence is so real, it’s adorably painful. Not to mention how kick-ass Likh is as an asha. Yas Queen. I wish there would’ve been more dialogue between Kalen and Tea in Shadow Glass. I know that Kalen is man of few words, but the first half of the book had me longing for more insight into their relationship. Kalen’s confession of his love for Tea in The Heart Forger was so moving and deep, I wanted to see more of that in the third book. I wish the third book would have given us some more intimate moments, especially leading up to his death. It felt short changed, they shared a moment and it was taken from them, as many other moments were during their quest, which I guess is a reoccurring theme in their relationship. They would never truly be happy until the very end. However, Chupeco gives us Kalen’s insight later on on her blog when she writes his POV, something I didn’t know how badly I needed. Your welcome https://www.rinchupeco.com/kalen/ Your welcomeBut Tea’s drunk scene?! YES! I love how she lets her inhibitions down and just swoons over her love for Kalen, to the point that she basically says she wants to marry him! And how he never scolds her for her performance. She’s so in love that she sings a song about him! She never sings! She also professes how glorious in bed he is, like damn Chupeco, why couldn’t we peek into that part of their relationship? lol. Instead he’s amused and gives in to her. How can we not love this guy! Can we just gush over how much Fox and Tea love each other?! Very rarely have I read any genre that puts such importance on sibling relationships! I read in one of Chupeco’s interviews that she imagined Fox as her older brother that passed away before she was born and it just made me love Fox even more. I couldn’t stop from crying when Fox begs Tea not to leave him behind when she does the rune from the book of hidden runes to make him human again (I can’t remember what it’s called). He’s willing to follow her to the after life and spend the rest of his new life making up for turning on her. Like wow. Understanding his anguish, choosing Tea over Inessa, which I think has to do with when Tea lowers the veil during his conversation with Inessa earlier in the story and he claims he would slay his own sister if he needed to because she was getting dangerous. When he feels her presence, before he can explain anything to her, she builds the veil back up and seals off all connections with him, understanding that he will be safer this way, but still hurt from what she’s heard. She never once holds it against him. Not. Ever. The guilt he feels for not believing her, all the time lost between them, the fact that he would leave Inessa behind to make up for everything shows us how deep their connection and devotion is to each other. And Inessa and Kalen aren’t ever jealous. The Oracle! I did not see that coming. That was some A+ plot twist there. She was a formidable opponent and there was a few times where I didn’t think Tea would be successful at the very end. It also cleared up a lot of questions I had about the Oracle, which I appreciated. And the betrayal of Althy. HOW COULD SHE?! I was completely floored when Althy says that although she influenced Tea, it was still Tea’s doing, killing Daisy. Like, no. NO. It was not her fault, how dare you, sir! To sit there and say she was doing this all for the sake of also getting rid of magic. Girl, you lyin. When she delivers the fatal blow to Kalen, I was emotionally wrecked. When Druj turns into a Blight at the very end, I was at the edge of my seat. But of course, Tea comes through showing how powerful she truly is, unfortunately, at the cost of her life. My heart breaks for Tea because it’s one trial after another until she finds peace in death, easing (my) emotional turmoil by having Kalen join her.When she offers Kalen the opportunity to be human again!!! Like, girl! This world does not deserve you! Tea is always putting those she loves ahead of her own needs and desires. I imagine it was the most painful thing she’d ever have to offer, she probably couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t, but of course he turns her down, there’s no Kalen without Tea. I thought I wouldn’t like when Tea gives the rest of her story, written out, to the Bard, because that meant we couldn’t be with her as she continued her mission. But the Bard, true to his word, tells the reader the story from the other side, what we wouldn’t have been able to know if it was just Tea telling it. Everything told from the present point of view was always told by him. However, I’m biased. I just wanted to know more about Tea and Kalen lol. Given how the story revolves around death, the books don’t talk much, if any, about what happens when someone dies. Dark Asha are able to raise people from the dead, but never saying what the after life holds. Understanding that reincarnation is a common belief in Asian cultures, when Tea asks Fox where he went after he died, he says something along the lines of, “nothing and everything” making the reader wonder what death truly holds. At the very end of The Shadow Glass when the Bard is paying respects to the statue of Tea and Kalen, before Fox and Inessa’s wedding, he hears a familiar voice, turns around in disappointment when the voice and face don’t match. The woman he see’s says, “sons with my fire, daughters with my eyes. Mayhap one day, they will. A life worth dying for is a life worth living after all’” and then the man and woman disappear. They don’t enter the party, they don’t leave the palace, they just disappear. There’s a possibility that they may have been reincarnated. Another theory could be that this was her final goodbye to the Bard for telling her story. Interestingly enough, after Tea gains her black heartglass back during her exile and goes to the Gorvekai to pass the final trial Love, the one she failed the first time, she receives a vision: “A new vision swam through my mind. I saw all seven daeva bowing to me, with Kalen, smiling and alive, my hand in his, while I stood surrounded by light. You were right, Lily, my heartsglass wept. A prince on my arm, surrounded by silver. You were right.” The main possibility is that they’re living in the after life, because once she drew the rune to give her brother back the life he lost, all magic in the world would disappear, meaning both deava and Tea and Kalen would no longer exist because they were now magical creatures possessing the shadow glass. I’d also like to think Tea and Kalen are rewarded for their good works and given the opportunity for a second chance in life, however, the interaction with the bard could have been an apparition since no other instances of reincarnation are hinted at. Needless to say, I have an emotional hole in my heart after having finished this trilogy. It’s always hard closing a book with characters you grew so fondly of. Excuse me while I binge watch the office to cheer myself up. Rin, did you cry at the end as well?

[sebeth]

Young Justice: The Return (Animation)

In an earlier post, I wrote my thoughts on the upcoming return of the Young Justice comic book. Now it’s time for the cartoon series.

I’ve tried to avoid most interviews but I have seen the promo images and watched the two trailers repeatedly.  I like to go in as spoiler-free as possible when watching/reading media but I only have so much self-control.

Let’s start with the main plot –

There will be a time jump between season 2 and 3 – we’re just not sure of the exact length.  

The formation of the Outsiders, along with the rescue of Terra, will be the main arc of season three.

Dick reunites with Conner and Artemis in the beginning of the season for “one last mission”.  Black Lightning accompanies the trio to Markovia to shut down the metahuman trafficking ring.  Why?  Besides the fact that human trafficking is bad.  Black Lightning has no previous connection to Young Justice but he has long-standing connections to Batman.

Has Batman already formed the Outsiders minus Geo-Force and Halo?  We briefly see Batman, Katana, and Metamorpho jump from a plane and later brawl with Deathstroke.  Batman formed the group in the comics - it would make sense for him to be behind the group’s organization in the cartoons.  A covert group for more adult missions he wouldn’t want the Young Justice children to participate in.

I’m guessing the Markovia mission reveals the metahuman trafficking ring is way more extensive than previously thought – leading Dick to reunite with - and resume leadership – of Young Justice.

The Light and the Reach experimenting with metahuman activation began in season two.  Per Wonder Woman, the Justice League “have confirmation that on multiple worlds, earth’s metahumans are being deployed by the enemy as weapons of mass destruction.”

Wonder Woman’s comment suggests the abducted metahumans are being subjected to brainwashing along with experimentation.  I highly doubt the newly activated metahumans would rampage across the universe without mind control directing their actions.

The “multiple worlds” comment ties together Bart’s “we have a mission in space” with the glimpses of the New Gods, Superboy’s brawl with Lobo, and Dick and Conner fighting Sensei/Silver Monkey on a foreign world.

New Genesis might be one of the world’s affected by the “metahumans of mass destruction”, Lobo could have been hired by the Light, and Sensei/Silver Monkey is guarding one of Ra’s Al Ghul’s headquarters.

On to the characters:

First up, the Outsiders –

Geo-Force, Katana, Halo, Metamorpho, Black Lightning

Terra

The Markov Royal Family

As I said above, I’m fairly confident Batman has already formed the Outsiders before the beginning of the season.  Possibly as a true “covert” group – as in without the Justice League’s knowledge or permission.

Young Justice was told they were a “covert” group by the Justice League but mostly it was a “training wheels” type group – smaller missions while being trained by the more experienced heroes.  They did covert missions but were still in the press and public’s eyes.

The Outsiders will be the true covert group – sticking to the shadows, away from the press, down and dirty missions, etc.

As for the individual Outsiders:

Geo-Force - Brion is an adorable big brother.  Noble, protective, eager to find his sister and stop the bad guys.  Visually his powers should be awesome – they are similar to Terra’s.

Terra – Not a member of the Outsiders but I wanted to include her with Brion.  The big question: will Terra be a villain?  I’m guessing “yes”.  Comic cannon dooms her to this fate.  I do believe it will be the result of the Light’s brainwashing instead of the general “evil” nature.  Possibly making her a tragic villain.  Will Deathstroke be involved with Terra’s brainwashing?  Comic cannon says “yes”.  Could Batman, Metamorpho, and Katana storm the island looking for Terra?  Is that why the Outsiders end up fighting Deathstroke?

Black Lightning – Jeff appears serious and mature.  Love his visual design.  Can’t wait to see him in costume.

Metamorpho – We only have a visual impression.  Very nice. I wonder if we’ll see Sapphire or Simon Stagg?  Rex will be the one who gives Deathstroke the most trouble in the upcoming fight.

Katana – Not much to go on yet except visually.  Katana’s design reminds me of a more adult version of her DC Girls attire.  Excited to see her in action.

Halo – Will be entirely different from the comics.  She is a person of color and possibly Muslim?  Let’s skip all the drama and hatred over the race change.  Please?!  She’s seems to be a new character.  I highly doubt her name is going to be “Violet Harper”.  For those unfamiliar with Halo, she wasn’t a great character.  Apologies to Halo fans.  Violet was a sociopath who was murdered by the 100, a criminal organization.  Aurakle, an alien entity, merged with Violet’s deceased body.  The “resurrection” caused amnesia.  It gets more complicated from there.  Let’s agree to start fresh and give the new Halo a chance.  Halo’s powers are light-based – different colors have different effects.  Halo’s colors were the same ones used by every color Lantern corps.  However, Halo predated the emotional spectrum Lantern corps by twenty years.  I’m betting Halo receives her powers in the cartoon due to the Light’s genetic manipulation. The one thing I would like to see carry over from the comic books is the maternal/big sister role Katana has in Halo’s life.

On to the Young Justice newbies:

Spoiler – I’m excited – I love Stephanie.  She had a brief cameo in Season Two.  How and why did she join the team? Is she involved with Tim?  Will this cause friction with Cassie?  I hope not as I would love to see Steph and Cassie bond. Cassie is very exuberant in the cartoon and Steph has the same approach to life – I would love to see the two become close friends.

Arrowette – A surprise choice since we already have Artemis, Roy, and clone Roy in the series.  Glad to see her as she was a prominent member/supporting character in the comic book series.  Will she develop a close friendship with Cassie and Bart?  Those were her two besties in the comics.

Thirteen/Traci 13 – Another surprise choice. Traci can easily step into the void Zatana left when she joined the Justice League.  Will Traci have a romance with Blue Beetle?  They were a cute couple in the pre-New 52 era.

Oracle – Not a true new character but Barbara has clearly been through some changes since season two. Will we see a Killing Joke flashback? Or did Babs become Oracle in a different way?

Static – Like Oracle, Static is a returning character but with an upgrade.  The writers seem to love electricity this season – we have Static, Black Lighting, and Live Wire also makes an appearance in the trailer.

Notable absences:

Miss Martian – I won’t miss M’gann if she’s absent this season.  She started out cute in season one, became creepy with the Conner-molding, and became worse in season two with the unrepentant mind-frying and toying with Lagoon Boy.  So no thank you unless Miss Martian has learned from her mistakes and expresses honest regret over her actions. Feeling bad for mind-frying Kaldur does not count as honest regret.  M’ganns the easiest case for a “hero goes bad” if the show writers wanted to go that route.

Aqualad, Lagoon Boy, Aquaman, etc – Atlantis has had zero representation in either trailer.  Did something happen to Atlantis during the time jump?  Will that be one of the mysteries during the season?

Miscellaneous thoughts on the upcoming season:

We are all but guaranteed a fourth and fifth season of Young Justice.  We know it’s going to be one of the heavyweights of the DC Universe streaming service so I don’t want various plotlines rushed.

Season Three will have 26 episodes.  The majority will focus on the Outsiders and the metahuman trafficking ring alongside a “mission in space”.    That leaves room for some “done in one” episodes or time for the development of various subplots.

The two big questions on fan’s minds: Will we see the return of Wally West or the debut of the Red Hood?

I would bet Wally’s return will be near the end of the season.  The writers will want a “wow” ending for the season finale and that would be it.

As for Red Hood…I feel it’s a strong possibility.  I don’t think the writers would have had Jason’s memorial hologram if they didn’t have any intention of using the Red Hood.

The writers could have Red Hood’s debut be similar to Jason’s appearance in the Teen Titans comics:  Jason attacks Tim, and leaves the “Jason Todd/Red Hood Was Here” message on the walls.  I’m not sure if the writers want to redo the entire “Under The Red Hood” storyline.  At this point, it’s been done in the comic books, an animated movie, and a video game – most fans are familiar with the details by this point.  Jason’s attack on Tim would allow Dick to fill in the rest of the team on the details of Jason’s resurrection.  Dick has been keeping his distance from the team as indicated by his “one last mission” line.  Dick’s distance would easily explain why the rest of the team is unaware of Jason’s return. Tim wouldn’t explain “Gotham business” to his teammates – he’s much more introverted and was way more intent on respecting Batman-imposed boundaries than Dick.

A developing friendship between Arsenal-Roy and Jason is a must.  Not only because of the “Outlaws” comic book but because it’s a natural development between two traumatized boys prone to lashing out.

What I Don’t Want:

A Conner-M’gann relationship – The pairing started cute but is now toxic.  Creepy molding combined with mind manipulation = abuse.

No Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Starfire, Cyborg, or Raven.  At least not this season.  We have multiple new characters debuting this season, new characters who didn’t receive much focus last season, and a possibly debuting Red Hood. The seating capacity is full – no new debuts until season four.

I’ve rambled enough for now – so excited for January!

[justgotham]

The city has been blown to bits and cut off from outside help. As the dust is settling, we asked executive producer John Stephens about the fall of Gotham, the rise of a certain Dark Knight — and what to expect in Season 5.

What is Gotham like post-bombings?

John Stephens: Not good. Inspired by the No Man’s Land arc in the comics, Stephens says he sees a “Mad Max–Escape From New York version of Gotham” with isolated neighborhoods co-opted by various villains. Other overlords next season will include infamous DC Comics characters Ventriloquist and Scarface, Lady Shiva and Man-Bat (as teased in the finale).

Who runs the town now?

Well, that depends. Barbara (Erin Richards) has turned the Sirens Club into “Rick’s from Casablanca,” says Stephens. “It’s the one place where there’s good food and great booze.” And no men. Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) claimed City Hall, where he’ll run a Stalinesque base of operations (“It’s as if you cross Fifth Avenue and you walk into North Korea,” the exec producer says). The evil Jeremiah (Cameron Monaghan) remains in the shadows “like a bogeyman.” Firefly, Scarecrow and Mr. Freeze will all have their own hoods too.

Can Jim (Ben McKenzie) and Bruce (David Mazouz) save the day?

“Jim is only going to control one small piece of the city,” previews Stephens. “The GCPD is going around and basically retaking every block.” Bruce’s approach is a little, um, battier. “As he [infiltrates] one villain sector after another, he’ll adopt different identities and at one point even take over leadership of a gang, almost like the way Batman did with the Sons of the Batman in The Dark Knight Returns.”

Any other comic book nods?

Selina (Camren Bicondova) being shot and paralyzed by Jeremiah will echo Batgirl’s condition in The Killing Joke, but Stephens tells us she won’t become Oracle. However, he does let slip that a planned love interest for the Joker-ish Jeremiah “may be” the show’s long-expected version of Harley Quinn.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: When Magic and Art Find Common Ground

Director Marc-Olivier Wahler poses alongside a video, Alligator (2017), documenting a live performance at the Broad Museum by artist Christian Jankowski, wherein Wahler appeared to be eaten by an alligator. (All images are by the author for Hyperallergic.)

EAST LANSING, MI — Magic, much like stand-up comedy, is considered by neophytes to be a spontaneous or improvisational form, but true practitioners know it to be, like most other performance, based on a formal structure. The Transported Man, a group show at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, uses the mechanisms of magic as a means to analyze art.

“[Arthur] Conan Doyle thought about Houdini that his illusions didn’t have to do with tricks, that it was about magic, about something transcendental,” said newly-appointed Broad director Marc-Olivier Wahler, in an interview with Hyperallergic about the foundational concepts behind his inaugural exhibition for the museum. “And Houdini wasn’t happy — he was very good friends with Conan Doyle — he said, ‘No, no, no, there is no magic, there are tricks.’”

Installation view of Ugo Rondinone, “Clockwork for Oracles II” (2008), mirror, colored plastic gel, wood and paint.

Wahler comes to art by way of philosophy, and with this first exhibition at the Broad, he took on what is arguably the deepest philosophical question about art: What makes something art?

“This is the biggest challenge we have as a museum, as a curator: trying to pay tribute to what the artists are looking for,” said Wahler. He continued:

And the main problem is a language problem. The language we use in art [is] formulated by the ones who are in charge of art — so how can you explain an artwork with the language developed by those in charge of explaining the artwork? It’s almost impossible. To do that in any type of field is forbidden. So I try to point outside the art world, ways to think, ways to look at things— for example quantum physics, science fiction, magic — and see if we can cast a new light on what is at stake in art.

Installation view of Georges Méliès, Match de prestidigitation (A Wager between Two Magicians) (1904), film transferred to video (black and white, silent), 1:31 minutes

Specifically, The Transported Man finds the common ground shared between art and magic — work dedicated to the practice of presentation, showmanship, and illusion being taken for transfiguration or wizardry. In a sense, posing a philosophical challenge to the idea of the artist as a magical figure is taboo, because the conclusion may be that they are, in fact, playing a trick on the viewer. Exposing as false the idea that an artist channels a mystical capacity to turn non-art objects into art is tantamount to a magician revealing the mechanisms behind his illusions.

For the purposes of the exhibition, Wahler has borrowed a formal structure from magic. The character Cutter in Christopher Priest’s novel-turned-movie, The Prestige cogently lays out the important parts of this structure:

Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called “the Pledge.” The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course … it probably isn’t. The second act is called “the Turn.” The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret … but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “the Prestige.”

Many of the works on display within The Transported Man refer directly to the elements of a magic show Priest has defined: pairs of floating hands by Urs Fisher (“Hands​” 2002); a rare 1904 film, Match de Prestidigitation (A Wager between Two Magicians), by Georges Méliès; and “Loxodonta,” (2017) Daniel Firman’s astonishing work which features a very convincing, life-sized elephant cast from flexible polyurethane resin, seemingly hanging in midair within the Broad’s vaulted main gallery. But the real thrust of the show goes beyond literal interpretations of the theme of magic, to explore the nature of illusion in art, and what effects illusions have on viewers.

Installation view of Daniel Firman, “Loxodonta (left)” (2017), flexible polyurethane resin, polyester resin, steel, fiberglass

The show itself feels a little discordant, vacillating between the works that take on literal aspects of magic in an art historical manner, such as a 1947 letter from René Magritte, “Letter to André Breton,” which discusses magic in the context of Surrealism, and those that are more conceptual, like “Base magica — Scultura vivente (Magic Base — Living Sculpture)” (1961), by Piero Manzoni, which purports to transform whomever stands in the designated footprints into a work of art. This dithering between categories is perhaps unavoidable for a show attempting to take on such ambitious themes.

“I think this — the Pledge, the Turn, the Prestige — it’s basically the narrative arc of any good story, and I think any good artwork, as well,” said Wahler. “If we keep this in mind, that there’s always this tension between things that are visible and invisible, and how the brain is tricked, the more it will cast new light on how the brain functions while watching artwork.” Wahler pointed to the recent preponderance of studies of magic tricks within the field of neuroscience, because the neural responses to tricks reveal important aspects of cognitive functioning and the enjoyment a viewer takes in a successful illusion.

Robin Meier and André Gwerder, “Synchronicity (East Lansing)” (2017). Detail view of a mixed media installation that creates a closed environment within which insects like crickets and fireflies are encouraged to synchronize with automatically generated sequences

In the art world, this might be thought of as “true believer” syndrome. If, in broad terms, art makes a kind of pledge, it is that art means something. We are presented with ordinary objects — some, in the modern era, physically indistinguishable from utilitarian objects — and told that these hold special meaning. If, as Wahler asserts, each artwork presents a clear narrative arc, where does that leave the viewer’s agency, in terms of interpretation, critical thinking, or the entrusting of belief in the object?

“This is an important question,” said Wahler. “The more interpretation an artwork can hold, the better, the more dense, the more efficient it becomes —without losing its identity, of course.”

Installation view of Ryan Gander, “Nathaniel Knows” (2003), false partitioning walls, breezeblock, metal fixtures, black carpet, oak bark and light.

The Transported Man may raise more philosophical questions than it answers, but that does not diminish the success of many of its playful, complex, and ambitious components. Whaler has certainly come out the gate at full speed, demonstrating a willingness to challenge viewers to engage in some transformative thinking. Ultimately, those who derive the most meaning from this experience are likely those who come determined to believe in it. 

The Transported Man continues at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum through October 22, 2017.

The post When Magic and Art Find Common Ground appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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Here’s How Intel Thinks It Can Solve Retailers Biggest Problems

Retail has a technology problem with a thousand would-be solutions.

Thousands of tech, service and agency vendors claim that they can solve the problems that retailers face. If you are a business owner or an executive at a large retailer, there is a relative smorgasbord of a la carte solutions to choose from and an army of sales representatives that want to get you on a conference call for a product demo.

The biggest problems retailers face are centered on the physical world. Yes, ecommerce has eaten away at the margins of retailers, but the vast majority of shopping is still done in store.

For retailers, the physical problems separated into several areas: the store (the front end), inventory (the back end) and intelligence (the data that puts everything together). As yet there has been no single solution that ties all of these aspects together while integrating new technology into the business model.

This is exactly the problem that Intel wants to solve.

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At the National Retail Federation’s 2017 “Big Show” in New York, Intel made a splash by announcing a five-year, $100 million investment into the retail space. Intel calls the approach “Responsive Retail” and the chipmaker essentially wants to become the platform and integrator of all retail technology going forward.

“When we started looking at retail, obviously there is a gap between technology in the store and what people can get online,” said Ryan Parker, director of marketing and apps engineering at Intel, in an interview with ARC. “What we wanted to do was say, hey, how can we build a platform that really brings the entire store online. Including the customer, the associates, the products and the store itself.”

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Problem: Islands Of Technology

Retailers are attempting to perform a deft maneuver: adopt new technology to adapt to rapidly changing customer behaviors while trying to update or replace legacy systems that do not serve new business requirements.

Over the years, retailers have built what Parker calls “islands of technology.” The islands are systems that a retailer may have adopted once upon a time but do not necessarily fit in all the other systems that have been integrated over the years.

Take the example of a department store. It may have integrated Bluetooth beacons when the idea became popular a couple of years ago. The retailer may have RFID chips for its inventory and a backend logistics system from the likes of Oracle or JDA. The point-of-sale—long the only system tied to the Internet—may or may not integrate with other systems and solutions. Maybe there is a system for employee engagement or digital signage for endcaps.

That’s a lot of moving pieces. In theory, all of those pieces can be generating very important in-store data that can help retailers better serve customers while also improving logistics on the backend.

“We can now use data online because we know that shoppers start online with their journey,” said Parker. “And then carry that all the way to the store. Bringing everything in the store online.”

Intel’s Responsive Retail platform—the crux of its $100 million investment—is an attempt to help retailers create, aggregate and simplify data which can be used across the entire omnichannel. From mobile or desktop browsing of products, to in store interactions, to inventory management, customer engagement and so forth. The platform is based on deploying and managing Internet of Things devices in the store, business intelligence and logistics management. Intel is building the core of the platform itself, but will work with all stacks of the retail technology supply chain to help vendors implement systems in stores that work with each other.

“Getting rid of the islands of technology accounted for about 40% of retailers’ pain points in this space. That was, by far, the biggest thing,” said Parker. “We wanted to make sure we could do it. We wanted to make sure that Intel is in a good position in order to get rid of those.”

The IoT Platform Approach To Retail

A long-running debate in the Internet of Things space has centered around device deployment and management.

The classic scenario is in the smart home. If a house has dozens of connected gadgets that can, theoretically, talk to each other, what is the center of the ecosystem? Is it a central hub-style router that everything connects through? Is it a decentralized mesh network based on communications protocols like Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth?

As the Internet of Things ecosystem matures, the answer to these types of implementation questions become industry and vertical specific. What works in the smart home is not necessarily going to work in a retail environment.

“How do I bring the goodness of the IoT ecosystem and the IoT platform to the experts and the retail software together into one place where the retailers can go,” said Parker. “You find often that IoT platforms are missing the vertical-specific implementation. We want to bring those two ecosystems together.”

At its core, Intel’s Responsive Retail Platform will be an attempt to create a reasonable data flow that will result in actionable decisions either in the storefront or at the corporate level. The platform resides between sensors attached to various parts of the business (customer, product, retail associate and store) and the actions those parts of the business perform. The data then gets rolled up to a business intelligence engine and the actionable insights are delivered to the right stake holder, be it the store floor manager or the executive team at headquarters.

The App Store Approach To Retail

When Apple’s App Store and Google Play came on to the consumer scene in 2008 and 2009, the notion of software delivery fundamentally changed. Coupled with the growth of the cloud, software was no longer something you purchased in a box from Best Buy and then bought updates for a year later. Software delivery became flexible, specific and seamless with updates continuous and automated. This is how software eats the world.

It is also an approach that’s entirely foreign to enterprises, retail or otherwise.

The continuous delivery/DevOps model of software has been difficult for big businesses to adapt. We first saw this with how companies complained to the likes of Mozilla and Google with constant updates to the Firefox and Chrome browsers. These are companies that were used to delivering updates on broad systems once or twice a year.

The goal for the Intel is to replicate the app store-like system in the retail sector.

“If we can bring that app store kind of mentality to the store where they can go up and find the various solutions that are already implemented and think of us as kind of the app store platform for them, now they can create those personalized experiences, the inventory management and those things, much more inexpensively than trying to integrate all of this IP,” said Parker.

The app store approach will help retailers of all shapes and sizes. The conversation of retail technology almost always focuses on the big brands, but the fact of the matter is that 95% of all retailers operate just one location and 40% of retail employees work for small businesses, according to NRF.

Small retailers do not have the technological expertise or resources to implement big, sweeping systems. Small businesses may need some specific systems managed by a small gateway or hub within the store.

Parker believes the rollout of systems like Intel’s Responsive Retail Platform will be bimodal. The big brands will come onboard with multifaceted systems while the long tail adopts niche solutions from specific vendors. Either way, the extensibility of the system is design to make continuous integration seamless for retailers.

Did you know? Applause specializes in helping retailers solve some of their biggest in-store and ecommerce problems. See how Applause can help improve the digital experience of retailers customers here.

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