The Art of Magic - Boxset & Book Editions

•Full-colour, 104-page exhibition and project book. Containing all the 39 object-less index cards in their original form along with photographs of each artistic interpretation. Essays by Steve Patterson and Lara Cetinich Cory. Photographs from the live performances and exhibitions.
• 7” Vinyl featuring 12min of material hewn together from 10 hours of live recordings from 8 performances.
• D/L Codes: Containing extensive archive of material: Aid to Practice (originally on ten-inch) / Tramping and Loring Vol.III (originally on cassette) / Eight part two hour live album (originally on cassette) / Five tracks taken from the installation pieces)
•All contents captured in an embossed, hand-numbered and hand-stamped box gold sigil box.
•Edition of 231 special editions housed in box with seven-inch (with d/l code) and 169 stand alone books (with d/l code)

Founded by a showman, shaman and collector of folk magic by name of Cecil Williamson over fifty years ago, The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic moved through a number of incarnations and locations before resting on the rocky shores of Boscastle, Cornwall, UK.

Folklore Tapes celebrate the museum and its founder with a project that brings together over three years of visits exploring the extraordinary labyrinth of artefacts and largest public library of occult publications. The collective immersed themselves in the practices of folk magicians and wayside witches, creating improvisational performances around the museum and on the harbour cliffs, incorporating handmade instruments and tools, alongside objects from the storeroom, such as amulets, wands, charms and cauldrons. The folklorist and artist Steve Patterson introduced the group to the astonishing archive of index cards made by Cecil Williamson. Amongst the draws of unique index lay a selection of that were of particular interest as they no longer had the objects they pertained to, having been lost for many years through reasons unknown.

These fascinating cards formed the basis for the project The Art of Magic, each one suggesting a new conjuration through artistic explorations. Thirty-nine of these object-less cards were sent across the country in an envelope along with an invitation to respond in whatever medium desired. The interpretations formed a traveling exhibition, journeying to six venues around England, with performances at each show drawing upon the combined presence of the artefacts, incorporating improvised sound, live projection and immersive sensory theatre.

This lovingly assembled 104 page book brings together all the documentation from the project and includes facsimiles of all the object-less index cards along with the conjured interpretations, essays and live show photography. The seven-inch is a distillation of over ten hours of recorded live material. All the sonic output surrounding the Art of Magic project over the past three years has been made available through the download codes and arrives at around four hours of audio. The set is held within an gold embossed black box featuring the sigil used by Mr Williamson, that has come to represent our magical endeavours...!