Why We Still Need Wonder: A Conversation with Jeanette Andrews
Magician Jeanette Andrews will perform all sorts of wonders at the HCL Fall Benefit on Nov. 10. Read the first installment of this 2-part conversation.
Photo by Michael George
High Concept Labs: You've talked about how during the pandemic, you went through this crisis about your career path, coming face-to-face with the non-essential nature of your work. Ultimately you would decide to continue on in your wonderful career as a magician and artist. Some years later, how do you view your craft as important in encouraging wonder, even if it isn't technically essential in the way that, say, a doctor is essential? Beyond that, why is wonder important in today's cultural landscape?
Jeanette Andrews: I think wonder is increasingly important. You know, it's really funny, because throughout my lifetime, I've always [thought that] this is a topic that's really important. And then, my god, over the last decade, more so than ever.
There's something baked into wonder where something is a little beyond our grasp. It inspires… it showcases that there's more than our immediate understanding. If I walk outside and I see a really incredible plant, there might be [a moment] where I wonder, what even is this plant? Because it seems kind of anomalous in some way, it’s making me curious. A lot of the time, wonder is an engine for curiosity. And I think in a world where we feel that there's instant gratification for everything, the idea that there are things that are not readily accessible to us, or that will provoke us to question more, wonder more, be curious more: all these sorts of things grow more important by the day.
There's been a lot of work done on relationships between awe and pro-social behavior. Socially we need these instances of being curious about the world and about other people. That is what, a lot of times, makes us more empathetic, more creative, and just makes the world more interesting.
Photo by Ahmed Kahn
So that's what I see as the role of wonder and curiosity in the world. Magic is a medium that has wonder baked into it. It’s important in that way. But I think I'm also quite pragmatic about what I do. There's things that seem really essential, and then there's things that also seem important to the human condition. For example, during COVID, we saw the critical importance of literally essential workers, and people providing lifesaving care. There also was another category of things that took prominence in the public consciousness… arts and entertainment. For example, I think comedians played a huge role in helping people make it through and navigate that time. Those were two very different types of needs that were both fundamentally important in very different ways.
High Concept Labs: You will be giving a performance lecture at the HCL Fall Benefit on November 10th, and we are very excited to have you! I'm wondering if you can tell me a little bit about what folks can expect from that experience.
Photo by Ari Isenberg
Jeanette Andrews: I got very into performance lectures a couple of years ago. I was asked to do a talk at the MIT Museum. Originally it was going to be a straight performance, and then I realized I really wanted to speak more on concepts of wonder. I had only seen one [performance lecture] before: Lucinda Childs had done a performance lecture at the MCA Chicago, which inspired me. The first one I did was in 2023, I think? The one I'm doing at HCL is quite different.
The lecture part really dials into a lot of stereotypes that people have about old-school classroom lectures. I use an overhead projector and transparencies that I write and draw on. I perform magic on top of the projector, and sometimes with the transparencies.
[I explore] what magic is doing that allows us to believe in the seemingly impossible. I talk a lot about the inferences people make, and the reciprocal nature in this dynamic between the magician and the viewer, and how that's working in terms of individual and collective trust and mistrust. I talk about this and then perform pieces of magic that exemplify some of these concepts, some of which are interactive, some of which are more austere, and just toggle through this sort of building concept.
Purchase tickets to An Evening with Jeanette Andrews for an exclusive opportunity to witness the strange and miraculous wonders of the internationally acclaimed magician.
Article by Max Collins
