The third issue of Side Magazine sketches a portrait of the Bonimenteur. Coming from the French word bonir (to tell stores in a nice way), their speech is often exaggerated, and aims to please, convince, and seduce—illusionary tricks often achieving a means to an end.
Seven contributors explore the soul of this talkative figure: Aurélien Gamboni analyses Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Conjurer (1502).
Polly Wiesner discusses storytelling at night among the Ju/’hoansi (!Kung Bushmen). A reprint of Maron Baruch’s NAME DIFFUSION links commodity with cultural production; Helmut Draxler looks at the relation between art and its display. Deborah Bowmann harnesses neoliberalism’s individuation. Jean Breschand puts Pier Paolo Pasolini’s masterpieces in the frame. And finally, Jacqueline Barus-Michel explores belief and our desire for meaning.