The Magician

“A day will come when, by means of similitude relayed indefinitely along the length of a series, the image itself, along with the name it bears, will lose its identity.“ Michel Foucault. This is Not a Pipe. Magic Corner, in Covent Garden, London, has existed as a work place for the street Illusionist for more than five hundred years. The Magician performs magic tricks to earn a crust, his wage having dipped to a third of what it what it was ten years ago. The motivation to publically perform the illusion is to collect the reward: a token blue, brown, purple or pink banknote. When banknotes were first introduced, they were a promise to pay the bearer in coins, but gradually became an alternative once the discs became too heavy. A banknote is simply an illusion made of paper, ink and foil. Invisible money is a transaction fabricated by digits.