The fascination with oddities and curiosities can be traced to as early as the fourteenth-century in Europe. Seen in medieval carnivals, drawing rooms, royal palaces and cabinets of curiosities called Wudnerkammers, in which items were valued and exhibited for their lack of etymology and/or peculiar representations that juxtaposed the body beautiful against the grotesque. One cannot mention the creation of the freak show without also associating it with circus showman and hoax-businessman P.T Barnum (1810-1891) known for creating one of the world’s first circuses Barnum and Bailey. Barnum’s circus featured various acts and performances prominently oriented around the freak show and featured performers such as dwarf General Tom Thumb, microcephaly
Findling, John E. Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions 1851-1988. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
When most people hear the name “Ringling” they think of the Ringling brother, known for their world famous circus. Besides their world-renowned circus, one of the brothers, John Ringling, had a vast collection of art pieces in his Florida mansion. His collection grew so big; he decided to build a museum to display his collection of art. The Ringling museum is located in Sarasota, Florida. The Ringling museum is comprised of multiple buildings. The museum itself, which holds all the art and has a gardens filled with sculptures and elegant architecture. Next to the museum is the circus museum, filled of wonders from their circus; and finally, john Ringling 's lavish mansion. I will focus on two specific pieces from the fine art museum. The Ringling museum has a
While analyzing through T.H Breen 's “Horses and Gentlemen: The Cultural Significance of Gambling among the Gentry of Virginia”, multiple aspects are established about the background of the particular gentry and also the significance of the leisure activities they participated in. When describing the colony, the people were made up of higher class individuals and mostly shared the same beliefs. The main cause of these actions fascinated Breen, and his article goes to answer why they found pleasure in such activities. Therefore, he then came to the concept that the gentry idolized two forms of living, materialism and individualism, both which possibly lead into the gambling behavior. I too agree with his observations of the colony and the idea that the leisure activities do portray a deeper sense of who they were.
"Sarcophagus of the Spouses - Smarthistory." Smarthistory: a multimedia web-book about art and art history. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
86). I like his definition of the word freak show, which is “an elaborate and calculated social construction that utilized performance and fabrication as well as deeply held cultural beliefs” (p. 86). The freak show was a place in which white people could come and recognize their difference and privilege and reaffirm their superiority over individuals who were different from them, who fall into the realm of the ‘other.’ It causes me to wonder that if some individuals saw this as a morally unjust thing, why was it such a popular phenomenon that had a great turn out? And it takes me back to what a friend said, that the only way things sell, is because there is a high demand for it. These freak shows were able to thrive in society, because some individuals needed to know and confirm that they were indeed higher than some other saps out there, whatever they had, they had it better than others. Yes these spectators were being duped into pay high prices to see people with highly exaggerated features, but they did not mind, because why they were there, was to have an opportunity to look at themselves and say Thank God, we are not like them and to reassert their dominance over the
The first exhibit I saw was the “It Ain’t Braggin’ if it’s True” (one of my friends told me I had to see the shrine to Lance Armstrong and the rhinestone car). The name of the exhibit didn’t make much sense to me though; aren’t all museum exhibits, especially ones about history, supposed to be true? The big banner in the middle of the room didn’t help much either. It simply said “Vision” and had a quote about how only those with great vision can see opportunity where others see empty space. Maybe those who have this type of vision get the braggin’ rights?
The Circus Maximus has a lot of history due to all of the events that had happened over the years of the Circus Maximus, the concept of chariots speeding around a track to see which horse would come in first. A chariot was a two wheeled, horse drawn vehicle. It was invented in the west in about 2,000 BC. The Circus Maximus started in approximately 50 BC. The Circus Maximus was first used for public games and entertainment by the Etruscan king of Rome. He built the Circus Maximus and made it out of complete wood. It measured 621 meters in length and 150 meters in width. It was capable of holding about 270,000 spectators to watch the races ("Circus Maximus princeton.edu") In 81 AD, Emperor Domitian connected his new palace on the Palatine to the Circus Maximus so he could have an easier view of the races. This happened to be a large action because they had to change around the whole racing course to fit in his window where he could watch. In 64 BC, they had a fire started from ...
With works in every known medium, from every part of the world, throughout all points in history, exploring the vast collection of the Museum of Modern Art was an overwhelming experience. The objects in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts are an important historical collection, reflecting the development of a number of art forms in Western Europe. The department's holdings covered sculpture in many sizes, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, jewelry, and tapestries. The gallery attracted my appreciation of the realistic qualities of the human body often portrayed in sculpture.
Flannery O’Connor once said, “…It is when the freak can be sensed as a figure for our essential displacement that he attains some depth in literature.” With this, O’Connor correctly uses the freak to symbolize her reoccurring theme of a grotesque viewpoint on the world, and such symbolism is used prominently in two of her short stories, ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge” and “Good Country People.” Within both stories, the freak awakens both the characters in the stories, and, in fact, the reader themselves, to the fact that they embody the same state as the freak.
Writing on this topic, the old Schoolhouse Rock song “Three Ringed Circus” comes to mind. In the song, a young boy describes the system of government, like the title suggests, as a three ringed circus. Each ring connects to each other, with a bit of their own ring in that of the others. The rings are separate and whole, with a bit of control over what happens in the other rings. This metaphor accurately describes the system of checks and balances in the American government, to keep one of the “rings” of the federal government from taking total control. Though the Supreme Court has the final say on the constitutionality on any legislature from Congress or the President, each of those branches has their own different forms of control over the
In this essay I will attempt to stage the Boxing scene for the play of
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is one of the most popular shows in the United States. One of the founders of the circus, Phineas Taylor, or PT Barnum, did start running shows with a circus. Instead, he began with the famous American Museum in New York. He also became well known for forming a group of “freaks” who he would take on tour around the world. The American Museum became an incredibly popular entertainment venue in New York until it burned down in 1865 (Maher). A very popular modern equivalent of Barnum’s freak shows is the Venice Beach Freakshow. One major difference between Barnum’s freak show and the Venice Beach Freakshow was the goal of the owners. PT Barnum focused solely on making money and used people for money, while the Venice Beach Freakshow is focused on providing entertainment for visitors and treating the performers
Taxidermy in our current society is a profession that is rarely seen, primarily due to the animal protection laws and reserves present in the majority of countries, and the preference of our current population to see animals in zoos, rather than as ‘still life’. However, taxidermy during the mid-Victorian and early Edwardian era was a thriving industry with natural history objects including stuffed birds and hunting trophies being used as popular décor. The fire screen imaged on the left was created by William Plowman, a key taxidermist of the famous Rowland Ward Ltd. Company from 1874-1914. Fire screens were commonly used throughout the 19th century to protect the people sitting around the fireplace from the heat and sparks, as well as often
Howe, Irving. The Book of the Grotesque. Winesburg, Ohio Text and Criticism. Ed. John H. Ferres. New York : The Viking Press, 1966. 405-420.
In Charles Dickens' novel "Hard Times", an alternative view of the Gradgrind-Bounderby way of life is presented by Sleary's circus people.