Magical Realism

In which college art students reconceptualize a library in magical realist terms: magical spaces, magical objects, liminal spaces, and more.

She had just finished saying it when Fernanda felt a delicate wind of light pull the sheets out of her hands and open them up wide. Amaranta felt a mysterious trembling in the lace on her petticoats and she tried to grasp the sheet so that she would not fall down at the instant in which Remedios the Beauty began to rise.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Characters 

• Guy 1
  • Wearing shirt with number 1
• Guy 2
  • Wearing shirt with number 2

Outline

• Go to the library
  • They go to the library basement where the energy is bad (raw and palpable)
  • They end up in the graphic design section
• Guy 1 reads Guy 2’s future it’s oddly specific
  • His future is read using a randomly selected word in one of the books on the shelf
  • The word that is pointed to is “darkness”
• Guy 2 plays it off as a joke but begins to grow paranoid
  • He goes about his life never shutting off the lights, always lighting candles and avoiding dark places
  • He orders a really high powered flashlight online
  • He decides to stop sleeping because when he closes his eyes it’s dark
• He continues avoiding what he thinks will be his death, and thinks he’s avoided it but then he dies
  • The high powered flashlight he ordered finally delivers
    • He thinks he’s going to be safe forever now because he has this.
  • He is so sleep deprived so he’s walking around outside at night in the road and a car starts coming toward him, but he doesn’t think it’s a car.
    • He sees two bright lights coming toward him and thinks it’s his angels, his saviors, but it kills him because it’s a car coming at him at high speeds.
• Guy 1 feels a bit bad and decides to never go to the library again while at Guy 2’s funeral.
  • Guy 1 puts a flashlight in the casket.
  • He genuinely believes his prophecy is what doomed his friend, hence why he never goes to the library again.

Story 

Two guys went to the library

They went to the basement where the energy was raw and palpable

They found themselves in the graphic design book section

Guy 1 said to Guy 2: I’m gonna pick a random book, flip to a random page, put my finger on a random word, and that will tell you your future.

Guy 2: Okay man just make it a good future.

Guy 1: i’m only human, or sometimes a human shaped wizard

Guy 2: sure whatever

Guy 2: bullshit

Guy 1: graphic design for dummies. This one is perfect for you because you failed art school

Guy 2: what if that was my final straw

Guy 1: I don’t know. But this will be 

He closes his eyes and starts flipping, then stops on a page and points determinedly 

Guy 1: …darkness

Guy 2: [silent]

Guy 1: there’s shivers up my timbers

Guy 1: possibly. But if I were you, I’d keep the lights on.

—Cielo Barrios and Willa Killion

The Garden

Characters:
Champlain student
– struggling with an issue, maybe had an anxiety attack (maybe they had to do something in front of the class?) and ran out of class

Student’s friends
– Watched student run out, worried

Shadow figure
– someone to talk to

Plot:

Classes and whatnot are going as normal – they’re having a great day with their friends and are excited for their next class

In the class, it is announced that they have a group presentation that is coming up – due next week and will be presented in front of the class

The student and their friends think it’ll be an easy A and decide to work together

Day of the presentation the student starts feeling odd – they never realized it but they didn’t know many people in their class – they will be presenting in front of strangers

Strangers who can judge them and that sends them spiraling

“What if they see my mistakes? What if they think I sound funny?”

The student starts feeling a tightness in their chest as they sit with their friends in the class – their friends seem excited and confident, but they don’t feel very good

Student gets up and speedwalks out of their class, friends spooked by their sudden action – calling after them but the student doesn’t respond

Once out of their building, they start running and hyperventilating, on the verge of tears – embarrassed, shameful, guilty, and looking for a place to hide

They don’t know why but they beeline towards the garden area behind MIC (chosen space from the library)

They sit on one of the benches and burst out into tears – choking back sobs as their face burned with shame

Upset and mad at themself for “being this way”

After crying they just sat on the bench (reclined, relaxed)

“Their eyes grew heavy as the sun gently lapped at their face. The warmth embraced them as they started to drift away”

The next thing they see when they open their eyes is this almost fuzzy and dreamlike version of the garden space – but across from them is a dark featureless shadowy figure

The figure asks them if they’re okay, mentioning that it saw them crying earlier

The student sheepishly reassures the figure but is surprised because they didn’t see the figure sitting there before

The figure, almost as if it read the student’s mind, tells them that they weren’t there before but came after they heard crying

The student feels guilty again – “I can’t believe I was crying so loud, I bothered someone nearby!

I’m so stupid! Stupid stupid stupid” – apologizes to the figure, looks away, and starts to get up to leave

They feel a hand on their shoulder, the figure is next to them now and says they aren’t bothered

– that the student’s crying didn’t bother it, but they are worried and curious to know what’s wrong  

The student sits back down as the figure pulls its hand away – “I had an anxiety attack…over having to present something in class today…”

 – surprised at themself for feeling so comfortable around someone they don’t know

“Why did you have an attack? What were you anxious about” The figure questions

“…I don’t know what the other students in my class will think…if they’ll hate my topic or think I’m annoying…and it makes me scared” The student wrung their hands together, squeezing their eyes shut to prevent tears from overflowing from their eyes

“Why?” The figure stays next to the student, head tilting a bit

“I…I don’t know…I don’t know and my stupid brain wants me to freak out about it!” The student cries, holding their head in their hands as they start to sob

The figure rubs the student’s back, trying to comfort them “Your brain is not stupid for freaking out over something like this – the opinions of other people are entirely out of your control-”

The student sobs harder, the truth

“-and all you can control is how you present yourself to others.”

“B-But that doesn’t make me feel better! I still don’t want to do it!” The student scrubs their face as the tears keep pouring out

“I know…but sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do and face things we don’t want to face. You won’t be alone in this. Your friends are going to be there with you, you’ll do it together. You can work through this together.”

The student sniffles – the hand on their back stilling as the shadow starts to stand up

The student looks up at the figure as the remnants of tears trickle down their cheeks

“You’ll be okay.” The figure reassured, reaching out to gently wipe the tears from the student’s face “You’ll get through this. I know you will.”

The student closes their eyes and leans into the figure’s touch, it was comforting

And when they opened their eyes, they were out of that dream – the figure nowhere to be seen

The student blinks away the sleepiness from their eyes before checking the time on their phone

– seeing that their class is practically over

They panic a bit and start to race out of the space before stopping right at the border – turning back to look at the benches before running off

Once they make it back to class, everyone is trickling out – their friends come over and start asking if they’re okay and what happened

The student reassures their friends – saying they’re okay and they just had an anxiety attack

Their friends tell the students that they asked the teacher to present next class and that they can all practice together so they feel more prepared

The student smiles

“I’d like that.”

This area outside of the library feels like it has the potential to have magical energy. If you sit on one of those benches, you’d be transported to another plane of existence (not physically but mentally and emotionally).

—Max Browne

“The Duplicat”

Background —

At night, Champlain Library — closed, lights off.

Spotless the cat is stuck inside, sits on a recently used printer for warmth

Accidentally gets copied, forms “Duplicat”

Duplicat is found next day and put in a book as a bookmark

Resides in book for a long time, comfortable familiarity

Inciting incident —

Outside force takes Duplicat out of book

Rising action

Duplicat tries to find its way back to the book

Duplicat finds the telescope on balcony of library

Telescope is an interdimensional portal

Climax

2D Duplicat looks through the telescope and sees 3D Spotless

Spotless teaches Duplicat how to live in the 3D world

Return to a new norm (falling action)

Duplicat realizes dimensional duality

Spotless and Duplicat meet frequently for Sunday tea time

—Abigail Caron, Nathan Conti, Riley Momenee, Bryce Youk

Images and Sketches for a Magical Realist Concept

—Jae Badaracco, Josue Correa, Quentin Haupt, Zemyrah Loss, Patient Mwibeleca, Remy Tenney

A Storyboard Involving a Shark

—Claudia Derezinski

Úrsula, almost blind at the time, was the only person who was sufficiently calm to identify the nature of that determined wind and she left the sheets to the mercy of the light as she watched Remedios the Beauty waving good-bye in the midst of the flapping sheets that rose up with her…

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Who’s to say there isn’t magic in the ordinary? How else to explain the color, the intriguing hatch leading above the ceiling tiles, the entire world, right there, awaiting examination?

Portal Collages

—Taylor Smith

Magical Object: World Map in Stairwell

Narrative Outline:

Walking down to the basement to get it on with new date

Flirting with each other, start bumping and justling one another going down the stairs

The one bumps the other one back, laughing

They look over to see their reaction and continue the joke or whatever

They’re gone.

Look around. They seem to have disappeared in thin air. What the fuck

Closer inspection of the map, seems to be shimmering a little, rippling?

Steps closer and reaches out, brushing the surface

Suddenly you are sucked in, enveloped into the map like diving into a pool. Surface tension on water keeps her locked in

She’s there with their date.

They’re both standing in a limitless space, seemingly standing on nothing, illuminated by glowing orbs. Beyond the orbs, complete darkness. Neverending.

Upon closer inspection, they are not just orbs, but entire worlds, floating in this in between space

They look at each other, concern, fear, and intrigue painting their faces.

Come together, surrounding a circle orb that seems to be at the center of it all. Glowing a little brighter.

They have some sort of brief conversation and then, holding hands, touch the world. Once again they are sucked in, or is it spat out, they appear to be right where they started at the world map in the stairwell of champlain college.

They tentatively reach out to touch the map again. Gently rubbing their hands along the surface.

Nothing happens.

Confused, did they imagine it? Are they on drugs? Who knows.

Who knows what that was, or what it meant, or if it was even real. But they experienced it together, it was real to them.

They continue down into the basement. Feeling like their bond is different, maybe a little stronger.

Description of the Object:

The map on the wall in the staircase mirrors the windows on the half floors above. Like the windows, the map shows us the world we live in. It is, in its own way, a window.

The map ripples and crinkles along its surface, begging to break free from the shiny parchment it is encapsulated within. What holds it back from breaking out altogether?

As you walk down the stairs, it faces you head on. Despite its mundane appearance, there is something about it that demands attention. Stepping onto the landing, and before turning to further descend into the building, the map reaches for you.

You can feel it tugging you towards it, like it has its own current of gravity. Its width wraps around you, and all you can see is the map.

The dusty browns and tan contours, the lines and ridges of continents and latitudes, the print of tiny words getting larger and larger as you grow closer.

Before you know it, you are lost in it, being swallowed by the world, stuck with it behind that shiny parchment

—Lillian Hall

The liminal energy of Champlain College’s library; the basement.

There is a chair in the back, behind rows of bookshelves and archives. It faces not another chair, but a blank and empty space. It feels as though this chair belongs to someone; and it’s waiting for them, wondering if they will ever return.

There is a cloud above these old pieces of wood, foam, and sewn fabric. This cloud contains every being whom has ever sat in or touched this chair. It holds their memories. It feels their memories–unlike any other chair you have ever(and will ever) sit in.

I invite you to come and sit in this other-worldly chair. There is no need to do anything, just sit and feel what comes.

—Greta Scheff

Magical Realism: Reflection in time

My piece is inspired by the emotions that lie beneath the surface and the ethereal experience at times of being trapped in our minds. It reflects the importance of healing and acknowledges the profound impact that our inner experiences can have on our daily lives. It involves comedy and retrospect reflections in an abstract setting. 

—Gabby Shedyak

Thought Experiment: Connecting Afrofuturism and Magical Realism

https://www.thinglink.com/card/1919261235082166949

—Evan Jones

..abandoning with her the environment of beetles and dahlias and passing through the air with her as four o’clock in the afternoon came to an end, and they were lost forever with her in the upper atmosphere where not even the highest-flying birds of memory could reach her.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez