A magician and a novelist discuss illusion in magic and literature.
Deutsches Haus at NYU and the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU will present a conversation between Daniel Kehlmann and the magician Mark Mitton on Friday, October 23, about the "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. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at Deutsches Haus, located at 42 Washington Mews (at University Place), New York, N.Y.
Events at Deutsches Haus are free of charge. If you would like to attend this event, please send us an email to deutscheshaus.rsvp@nyu.edu. Space at Deutsches Haus is limited; please arrive 10 minutes prior to the event. For more information, call 212.998.8660.
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.
Daniel Kehlmann's books (F, Measuring the World, and Fame) will be on sale by Greenlight Bookstore.
Consciousness and the Art of Illusion is a DAAD-sponsored event.