Flyer for Consciouesness and the Art of Illusion
Deutsches Haus at NYU and the New York Institute of the Humanities at NYU present a conversation between novelist Daniel Kehlmann and magician Mark Mitton on "Consciousness and the Art of Illusion." Kehlmann and Mitton, who is a working magician and an expert on physical misdirection, will discuss illusion in literature and magic.
About the Participants
Daniel Kehlmann is the Eberhard Berent Goethe Chair at NYU's Department of German. Kehlmann has been honored with numerous awards, including the Candide-Preis (2005), Kleist-Preis (2006), Heimito von Doderer-Preis (2006), WELT-Literaturpreis (2007), Per-Olov-Enquis-Preis (2008), Thomas-Mann-Preis (2008), Prix Cévennes du roman européen (2010), and most recently the Nestroy-Theaterpreis (2012). His publications include the novels F (2013), Ruhm (2009), Die Vermessung der Welt (2005), and Ich und Kaminski (2003) and the books of essays Kommt, Geister (2014), Lob (2010), and Wo ist Carlos Montufar? (2005). Daniel Kehlmann lives in New York and Berlin.
Mark Mitton is a professional magician who is fascinated by using magic to better understand how we see the world. In addition to performing at private and corporate events all over the world, and creating magic for film, television, the Broadway stage, and Cirque du Soleil, Mark tirelessly explores the theme of 'Misdirection' from an interdisciplinary standpoint. He regularly presents on 'Perception' at universities and conferences in North America and Europe, including the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, and has lectured with the late Nobel laureate Dr. Gerald Edelman of The Neurosciences Institute. Mitton was the apprentice to legendary sleight-of-hand master and vaudevillian Slydini, and a long-time student of Ozzie Malini, the son of turn-of-the-century magician Max Malini. He has performed for Mick Jagger, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, John Mayer, Katy Perry, Salman Rushdie, Sienna Miller, Mark Messier, Sting, Sylvester Stallone, and many others; at festivals in Europe and Asia; at the Olympic Games; in war-torn Liberia; in hospital wards around New York City; and in a Mexican orphanage with members of the band Guster. His magical hands are featured in a They Might Be Giants video, and he appears in Tony Oursler’s latest video project "Imponderable," in which he plays both Oursler’s grandfather Fulton Oursler and Harry Houdini.
This event is free and open to the public.
Consciousness and the Art of Illusion is a DAAD-sponsored event.