LAternaMagica.org FAQ
Q. Does this web-site have a "Home Page" ?
A. No, it does not. The site has hundreds of pages with cross-links. They are grouped by kind and each group has its own Main Page.
Q. Why .org ?
A. The web site was created in 1998 in Saint Petersburg, Russia by IL as a Virtual Business Card for his employment goals. Since these goals have already been achieved, now the site is just a web-space to keep images, videos and sounds for public viewing. It serves cultural aims only and it does not have any commercial reasons. You will never see any banners or pop-ups here. The Domain Name and Hosting is paid by the web-site author ("IL" below). All pages are made himself manually by writing HTML code and JavaScript directly.
Q. Why are the first two letters (LA) capitalized?
A. It's a way to express an idea that IL now lives in Los Angeles, California.
Q. How long is this name used?
A. IL has been using this name (Laterna Magica) since 1981. In that year he came into an independent Slide-Theater Performing group. The group used slide-projection as Virtual Scenery in its audio-visual shows and it was named Laterna Magica. After several years of joint artistic activity, the leader of the group changed the name of his group to the Art of Synthesis II, but IL decided to keep the name Laterna Magica for his own future projects.
Q. Where does this name come from?
A. As IL knew in 1981, the name of the Performing group (Laterna Magica) was taken from a similar Josef Svoboda's Slide-Theater Performing group based in Prague, Czechia: Laterna Magika. Furthermore, the latin name Laterna Magica ("The Magic Lantern" or "The Lamp of Magic") has quite a long history. The Magic Latern is the predecessor of all devices for projecting enlarged images. It is supposed that the first "magic lamps" were used in ancient times by Chinese, Egyptian and Greek priests during the ceremonies in temples. It is essentially the same instrument as the modern slide projector — developed from origins at least as early as medieval science, hence the term 'magic'. In its modern form it appears to date from the mid-17th century. Latern shows were increasingly popular as public entertainment throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In the Victorian period, the lantern underwent continuous technical development, one result of which was the film-based moving picture projector or cinematograph. So, the Laterna Magica was one of the precursors of film.
At this time, IL works in the Digital Cinema Industry, so the name of his private web-site fits his mission.