With Hocus Pocus and Encounterology, mudac presents a season exploring the relationship between magic and design. Together, the exhibitions examine the connections between contemporary creation and magic, and how they invite us to experience the world—or worlds—differently.
Magic and Design
Dunne & Raby, After the Festival: Design for a World of Many Worlds, 2023 mudac collection
© NGV Triennial Kate Shanasy
Hocus Pocus. Design of the Invisible
From the late nineteenth century to the present day, Hocus Pocus explores the surprising links between magic and design. Through the worlds of legendary illusionists, technical inventions, popular entertainment and spiritualism, the exhibition reveals how designers, like magicians, use innovation, staging and illusion to inspire wonder and captivate audiences.
Encounterology. Design for Magical Worlds
Running alongside Hocus Pocus, Encounterology turns to contemporary magical practices as forms of relational technology. Bringing together immersive installations, ritual objects, speculative works and a selection of pieces from the mudac collection, the exhibition explores new ways of connecting with living beings, non-human entities and unseen worlds.
Works and documents
Hocus Pocus:
Abyme LTD., Atelier Baqué Molinié, Yto Barrada, Sophie Becker, Zoe Beloff, Jörg Boner, Camille Brée, Paul Cocksedge Studio, Laura Couto Rosado, Thomas Fontaine, Antoine Foegle, Henry Gunderson, Audrey Julien, Jenna Kaës, Arno Mathies, Réjean Peytavin, Emma Pflieger, Marc-Arthur Sohna, Mathias Zieba.
Encounterology:
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Allora & Calzadilla, Charles Bonnet, Isabell Bullerschen, Fanny Charrasse, Ted Chiang, Jessica Collet, Charles Darwin, Dunne & Raby, Teresa Fernández-Pello, R. Buckminster Fuller, Kiko Gianocca, Pierrette Gonseth-Favre, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Simon Gretton, William Griggs, Anna Zoe Hamm, Sophie Hanagarth, Dominiq Jenvrey, Aleksandra Kędziorek, Keight, A. Konby, Maria Łaszkiewicz, Le Corbusier, Mathieu Lehanneur, Krzysztof Maniak, Khoren Matevosyan, Richard Craig Meitner, Mountaincutters, Amor Muñoz, Katarzyna Przezwańska, Felipe Ribon, Christopher Santerre, Semiconductor, Brynjar Sigurðarson, Pamela Singh, Maciej Siuda, Ettore Sottsass, Rudolf Steiner, Thomas Thwaites, Diego Valadés.
Lenders
Hocus Pocus:
Archives Gaumont, Yves Bosson / Agence Martienne, Espace Horloger, Fondation Guex-Joris, Frac Île-de-France, Institut Métapsychique (Paris), Françoise Ninghetto – Collection Jungo, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Genève), Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris), Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Tony Oursler, Surnatéum (Belgique), The Alessi Museum, The Museum of Modern Art (New York City), Vitra Design Museum.
Encounterology:
Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture (Bern), Fondation Le Corbusier (Paris), Fondation Toms Pauli (Lausanne), Galerie Chantal Crousel (Paris), Lucid Realities (Paris), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Rudolf Steiner Archiv (Dornach), Sèvres and Mobilier national, Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Zachęta (Warsaw).
| Curation - Hocus Pocus | Alexandra Midal - Double A |
| Scientific collaboration - Hocus Pocus | Luisa Ferreira - mudac |
| Curation - Encounterology | Scott Longefellow - mudac |
| Exhibition design | Adrien Rovero Studio - Double A |
| Graphic design | Marietta Eugster |