Tuesday 3 November 2015

D.I.Y Magic - Anthony Alvarado


D.I.Y Magic offers a set of mind hacks that will help any creative artist to find new sources of inspiration encompassing self-help, psychology and philosophy. D.I.Y Magic will change the way you think about yourself, about creativity, and about the world. This is not a book merely to be read; it is a book to be lived! Hack into deeper levels of creativity, access the subconscious, and discover techniques that have been used by artists from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Beethoven and Richard Wagner, David Lynch and Leonardo da Vinci for centuries. From vision quests and lucid dreaming to creating a memory palace and Salvador Dali s spoon trick the deceptively simple exercises collected by Anthony Alvarado are designed to help those born into the modern age of reason to escape the rational web of what we already know and to see. Explore creativity through the lens of actual magic and follow in the steps of the Romantics, the Dadaists, the surrealists, the beatniks, anyone chasing the muse, in learning how to pull the strings of everyday reality and unlock the magic of the creative mind. Illustrated by a host of visionary artists, including alternative comic artists such as Farel Dalrymple and Ron Rege Jr, D.I.Y Magic is a radically original arsenal of ways to think, perceive and experience the world.

What did I think?

Firstly, it took me a little while to open this book as I couldn't take my eyes off the cover.  The way the door is illustrated gives it an almost 3D effect and there's something so very soothing and heavenly about the blue sky on the other side.

I love quirky books and this was no exception and I found myself trying out the mind hacks as I went along.  They really work!  I was always the person walking along the road with her head down hoping to go unnoticed.  Little did I know that I was going about my quest for invisibility completely the wrong way.  Along came Anthony Alvarado and his mind hack number 8: the Cloak of Invisibility, so off I went to Newcastle with my head held high and looking disinterestedly at approaching strangers.  It actually worked - I looked at them first so they didn't look at me - it was amazing!

There are some really interesting ideas in the book that actually made me think about life (and death) and simpler times - I definitely want to walk more than drive and I will try the switching off from the internet for 1 day per week, although it does sound a bit daunting I am from the pre-internet era so how hard can it be?

With inspirational quotes at the start of each chapter and mind-boggling illustrations throughout, it's full of food for thought and life-enhancing tricks.  I know I will refer to this book time and time again and my life will only improve because of it.

I am indebted to Amy from Souvenir Press for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:




Buy it from Amazon - you won't regret it!

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