Art is a deception that creates real emotions — a lie that creates a truth. And when you give yourself over to that deception, it becomes magic.

Tempest frames art—especially performance magic—as a deliberate, consensual deception: the audience knows it is constructed, yet still experiences genuine feeling. The “lie” is the crafted illusion (a story, a trick, a staged moment); the “truth” is the authentic emotional or psychological response it produces—wonder, awe, empathy, catharsis. His final line emphasizes participation: the effect depends on the spectator’s willingness to suspend disbelief and collaborate with the artwork’s premises. In that shared space between maker and audience, technique becomes more than mechanics; it becomes “magic,” meaning an experience that feels larger than its material causes.