The Perpetual Academy of Illuminated Magic
The spell cannot hold without you…
In October of 2019, one hundred guests received a scroll in the mail that appeared to be blank. Upon further inspection a blacklight flashlight attached to the scroll revealed a message inviting them to join the Perpetual Academy of Illuminated Magic for a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Academy met for one night alone. Scattered throughout its halls, a series of instructors offered courses in the various ordinary magics: sympathetic resonance, meaning making through symbols, natural medicines, storytelling, and more.
An installation of ten potion cabinets stood in the main hall of the Academy. Each cabinet represented a different form of ordinary magic—The Magic of Beginnings and Endings, Remembering and Forgetting, Shadow and Illumination—and contained a diorama representing that magic, as well as a potion bottle. Over the course of the evening, guests earned the keys to each cabinet and brought the potion bottles to a cauldron going in the kitchen. At the peak of the evening, we finished brewing our potion and used it to collectively cast a spell binding our timelines together and ensuring that we would find each other again in the next cycle.
Creators: Laika Young, Jonathon Long, Emma Terry, Laynie Loper, Dicapria Del Carpio, Matt Smith, Tyson Ayers, Leah Gardner, Sydney Richardson, Ashley Terry, and so many others.