The freak-garde : extraordinary bodies and revolutionary art in America

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blyn, Robin, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arts--Experimental methods--20th century--United States.

Arts.

Arts, American--Themes, motives.

Arts, American.

Freak shows.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] University of Minnesota Press 2013

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Freak-garde traces the arts of the freak show from P. T. Barnum to Matthew Barney, demonstrating how a form of mass culture entertainment became the basis for a distinctly American avant-garde tradition. Robin Blyn establishes innovative approaches to American avant-garde practices and embodiment and lays the foundation for a more nuanced understanding of the disruptive potential of art under capitalism.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction. Unbecoming Subjects: Freak Shows and the American Avant-garde

1 A Curious Education: Mark Twain's Corporate Persons

2 Between Silence and Sound: The Lon Chaney Sensation

3 Decadence in the Age of Fascism: Djuna Barnes's Freak Dandies

4 Dada in Hollywood: Nathanael West's Human Machines

5 The Biology of Revolution: Mapping Mutation with Diane Arbus

Coda. Barnum &amp

Bailey &amp

Barney: Freak Show at the Guggenheim

Notes

Bibliography

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

0-8166-8587-8