David Carter

From the MAKEBELIEVE exhibit, my favourite was the collection by David Carter.

In Vanisher, I was at first confused why there was smoke on the top, smoke on the bottom, and then a smokeless space in between. I could not comprehend how that could be possible! I walked away, perplexed and annoyed. Then I studied Magic Box and I had a EUREKA moment! In Magic Box there are a series of glass plates which break the box into compartments. Combining the two, in Vanisher, the smokeless space is there the vanishee is hiding, as no one really vanishes, it is just an illusion. Also, upon closer inspection, the puffs of smoke are not from a continuous explosion, also emphasizing the creation process of an illusion.
Visually, my favourite piece was Sequel. I find it to be haunting and cold, but warm at the same time, which is strange because the body below is in a coffin, so really, it would not be warm at all.

Sequel follows a piece called Part 1. The full picture is the snowy scene with the severed head. What's neat about these pictures is that the images were created solely by make-up, staging, and set design: no digital manipulation of the images.


There was to be a 5th piece in this display, Presenting, but it was not out. I think someone knocked it over and broke it.