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Anatomy Of A Card
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Anatomy (from greek origin; ana: seperate, apart from; and temnein, to cut up, cut open) is a branch of biology that is the concerned with the structure of things. The structure of the human body had been a mystery for centuries. Historically, medical science was limited to crude understandings of the body's inner workings. Early investigations by rennaisance luminaries like Michealangelo and Leonardo DaVinci produced an expanded understanding of the human anatomy thru close study that included examination of animals and humans, and the disection of deceased animals and human cadavers. The image to the left, the Vituvian Man, was drawn by Leonardo DaVinci in the late 15th century. It was inspired by his keen interest in the human form, and his awareness of geometric proportions outlined in one of the books of the treatise De Architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius, from which he got the drawings name. The drawing represents relationships of proportion and symetry of the human form, and it's relation to nature.
So, what does this have to do with magic or playing cards, you ask? Well ... nothing at all really ... but you're now likely just a little bit smarter about history, art, biology, and ancient architecture. The real context here is the playing card ... and the fact that this ubiquitous item has a long history and has evolved into it's current form over hundreds of years. It's evolution isn't as long as that of the human form, or is it nearly as complex, but it does have a structure ... described below.
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| The Layered Nature of a Playing Card |
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The cards are constructed in multiple layers. Each layer provides the card with one of it's recognizable characteristics in it's own unique way. In this case shown here, the face of the card is it's own layer ... and can be peeled back as one continuous piece with some patience and a steady hand. It's really just one of the facades of the playing card ... masking the truth that lies beneath.
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As was the case with the face of the card, the back of the card is also it's own layer, showing the symetrical bicycle design recognized the world over. With the same level of patience and a steady hand, the whole back of the card can be removed as one continuous piece as well. These 'facial' layers are very thin ... containing just enough substance to maintain some structure and hold the ink that defines the card's identity.
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Here you can see a single card on it's edge with both the face of the card, and the back of the card peeled back from what is the third element of the anatomy of the card ... the core. The core is the center of the card and is a bit thicker than the two facial layers of the card. It provides the card's shape, rigity, and it's spring. It has a greyish color depending on how much of the face or back was removed in the peel of the facades.
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| The Dissection of a Playing Card - Part 1 (preparing the host) |
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So what's the big deal, you say? You can peel the layers of a card and show three seperate pieces? So ... what purpose does this serve? I'll start with a regular old two of spades shown here. I'm going to start the process of creating a new card ... one you won't likely find in a pack of regular Bicycles. This is the first step in deconstructing a card for the purposes of building another one altogether different.
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So far it still looks we're just peeling faces and backs, but here I'm going to remove the lower left diagonal corner of the Two of Spades. A careful slice across the center diagonal of the card and some careful and steady pressure, and my Frankenstein card comes just one more step closer to becoming real.
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As you can see here I have succeeded at removing the lower half of the face of the card, which has left behind the bulk of the two of spades card. What remains of this card I'm going to use as the host for my new card. The face of this two of spades that I have removed will not be used here for this explanation.
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| The Dissection of a Playing Card - Part 2 (extracting the donor) |
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So what is this Step 2, you ask? I'm going to take elements of two different cards and ultimately create a new card. This card serves as the second of two, and from this card I will extract only the facial layer of the two of hearts. So you can see clearly from this photo that I'm starting again with a regular playing card ... the two of hearts.
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If I didn't care about what the condition of everything was when all was said and done this step wouldn't be a problem at all. But the objective is to actually reuse these pieces and it look like the card came off the production line without any mods (at least w/ a casual view of the card). I will carefully peel back the top (face) layer slowly and carefully so the whole piece being removed comes off as one piece without any tears and having a relatively consitent thickness. This takes practice and a bit of a touch.
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You can see here that I have succeeded at removing the lower half of the face of the card, which has left behind the remainder of the two of hearts card. I'm not going to use the piece shown here for this demonstration. I have the two of spades that I'm going to use as my host for the final version of the card. It's the face that I have removed that is the important piece here ... which can be seen in the next photo.
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Shown here is the lower half of the two of hearts card that I just peeled away from the core and back of the rest of the two of hearts. This piece was carefully removed in one continuous peel. Success doesn't always occur on the first try w/ these delicate steps. This card layer will be used as the donor for my new 'frankenstein' card. Later in the process you'll see that I'll 'graft' this card onto the peeled face of the two of spades.
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| The Reconstruction of a Playing Card - Part 3 (transplant) |
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Before I go any further I will check that the two pieces match so that they fit together cleanly. If I wasn't careful in the execution of all the previous steps I'll have pieces that don't match. Either fine changes can be made ... or you're starting all over. Once the fit is verified it's time to prep the base for the acceptance of the transplanted face. A bit of rubber cement will work well here.
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In this shot here, you can see my new split identity card with the faces of the Ace of Spades and the Ace of Hearts together for the first time. The glue just applied in the last step will make sure they stay togehter. It will soon be ready to be used in some unusual and deceptive way.
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Now just a little bit closer. Carefull attention should be paid to ensure that the pieces align exactly. It's all about making it blend in cleanly. There's some room for error here ... but only for a few seconds. Once the glue is tacky the two halves should be aligned as closely as they can be. An advance dry fit was done to make sure the pieces match. We're almost done.
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Once the pieces have been aligned carefully and final adjustments made, the card will have been placed inside the pages of a book stacked carefully under the load of some other heavy items ... maybe a stack of other books. Leaving this for a day or so will compress the card back into it's orignal shape, and allow the glue to dry. Once you extract it from it's compressed and cramped space, it will be ready to use.
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