This image still gives me chills every time I see it. I think it’s the idea of encountering something so bizarre in such a normal setting that really gets me.
As a magician and filmmaker, I’m no stranger to strangeness: removable thumbs with blinking lights in them, unnatural penetrations (not that kind), girls with teeth down under, twin gynecologists, a punk-rock musical featuring Jesus fighting vampires; you name it, I’ve seen it.
The thing is, though, that in the case of film and magic there’s already an expectation of the unusual. Even though the events or circumstances presented might seem completely surreal and/or out of this world, there’s still the reassuring knowledge in the back of our minds that “it’s just a trick”, or that special effects are getting better and better by the day.
So when we find ourselves caught off guard by a real-life piece of strange, the impact it has on us becomes so much more affecting. Just yesterday I got hit by a strong case of déjà vu – even though I knew the scientific explanations behind it, it didn’t change the fact that what I was experiencing was exactly the same as a film idea that I had written in my journal a few weeks prior.
Another instance of weirdness happened a few years ago, during my junior in high school. Whenever I had my free periods, I would always go to the library and take a nap. One day, I was woken up by the school bell and so I hurried off to my English class to take a test. After running up three flights of stairs and turning down the hallway, I entered the room just as the teacher was handing out the test papers. Upon sitting down, I received a copy of the test, but as soon as I read the first question I found myself waking up in the library again. The whole thing had been just a dream. Nevertheless, when I really went to the classroom later to take the test, I noticed that the first question was exactly the same as what I had seen in the dream. If only I could’ve dreamed up the answers too – that would’ve be something.
While I’m no believer in the supernatural, it fascinates me how often these things happen. Most people have experienced that phenomenon where someone they’ve been thinking of suddenly calls them on the telephone. I’ve had that happen, but instead of getting a call I actually bump into them in real life – it’s happened on at least 4 separate occasions. There have been times where I’ve walked down empty corridors only to feel the sensation of my feet leaving the ground. And for a moment in my teens, it seemed as if I had the ability to stop time – and I’m not talking about boring lectures, either.
It’s a beautiful feeling, knowing that there’s so many things in reality that are still left unexplained. I haven’t chanced upon my doppleganger yet, but who knows – maybe someday.
That library incident is pretty rad. I read somewhere that such deja vu occurs because of a misfiring in one of the synapses in the cerebral cortex, so we mistook sensations and experiences or memories as the ones we have experienced before. It occurs to me alot, too. That “thinking of someone, then meeting them unexpectedly” thing is pretty nifty, occurred to me at least 5 times. >_>
Yeah, it’s a weird and yet beautiful thing to remain unaware of how some things work; just makes life interesting and unpredictable enough to bear. I guess.
Now, you tempted me to watch Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers. *added to my list!*
I found mine!
http://steinvegard.deviantart.com/art/No-duplicates-allowed-104479019
Good post. Interesting.
-Stein(, The Vikings)
By far, one of my favorite posts on you blog so far =)
Very intriguing thoughts, but I really enjoyed reading this article.
Hey Kevin. Just found your blog. This is great.
Out of curiosity. Who painted that picture?
@Michael Feldman:
Hey Mike! Great to hear from you again… was great meeting you at Dan and Dave’s party. Chuck Kent 4 Life :D
Anyway, the painting is by my favorite artist, René Magritte. You might remember his famous ‘This is not a pipe’ drawing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_Of_Images
Or the one with the man in the bowler hat:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Son_of_Man
Those are just a few of his more notable ones – I personally love everything he’s done. Normal things in abnormal contexts – something that’s always fascinated me for as long as I can remember.
-Kev
Hey! Yeah. It was great to meet you too. Who knew that 10-ish magicians walking down hollywood blvd could wreak so much havoc?
I though the painting looked like Magritte, but I had just never seen this one before.
Here’s my personal favorite (actually wrote a paper on it :))
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golconda_(painting)
A friend of mine has that as a painting on his wall ;P;)
haha nice ;)
cheers,
Aron
Your friend is a badass! I would love to have some Magritte on my walls, if only I could afford them. For now it's just shitty JPEGs and inkjet printers… *sigh*.
-Kev, The Virts
haha i can ask him if he sells it ;)
cheers,
Aron