There is some terminology throughout Gabi’s thinking / theory, which might seem very confusing if you are not familiar with them. But once you know the terms and know what they mean, everything that follows will be a lot easier to process!
First up: Internal Life and External Life.
These are concepts which were defined by Ascanio, and on which Gabi built on;
The Internal Life
Is everything that is not accessible to the spectator; Secrets, techniques, technology,
psychology,… It’s basically everything one has to do to achieve the effect.
This space is inhabited by the Prestidigitator*
The External Life
Is everything that is accessible to the spectator; The effects, the presentation, the narrative,
the drama, the gestures, the movements, …
This space is inhabited by the Magician*
Gabi pointed out that very often when discussing magic, the speech is confusing because the point of reference is changed, from the Internal Life to the External Life, without realizing it. For a better understanding of magic and a more precise dialogue, it is necessary to differentiate these two concepts.
Gabi proposes in Depuración constante de lo mismo “… the elements situated inthe Internal Life (Defence Purpose) go through a process of transformation towards the External Life of the effect (Attack Purpose), with the aspiration that no trace or echo remains of its origin”.
This process of transformation -from the internal life to the external life- has to be developed by tending to a maximum of economy which will translate into maximum clarity. That is, the economy of the means/methods in the Internal Life, translates into clarity in the External Life. And this must be achieved by the proper balance between economy and clarity that everyeffect requires/demands.
We could sum it up like this:
“Maximum economy without loss of clarity and maximum clarity without loss of economy.”
*In the next post we’ll expand a bit more on the idea of Magician / Prestidigitator.
Sources:
“The Structural Conception of Magic” – Arturo de Ascanio
La Depuracion constante de lo mismo – Gabi Pareras