The Artist as Demon
Stuart Clark’s “Glamours: Demons and Virtual Worlds,” begins with a question: what is the devil? “Nothing less than the inventor of virtual worlds,” Clark answers (123). The ultimate deceiver, the devil, demon, and witch is a master illusionist. But, according to Clark, he’s not a total illusionist. He is an inventor of virtual worlds but not of real worlds. Clark gives demons a very specific power, one not placed entirely in the realm of God or the realm of Earth, but carefully positioned at the edge of natural and the cusp of supernatural. It is perhaps best to explore Clark’s argument through the use of visual media, as the power of illusion is, as Clark insists, not just held in the hands of demons, but exemplified and possessed by the living artist. This understanding of the demon and the artist asks the viewer to straddle reality and unreality in an attempt to distinguish the truth. We can begin with Albrecht D ΓΌ rer’s 1498 print, The Dream of the Doctor , which sho...
