The culturally elite, set apart from the rabble by their status as intellectuals, are equally obsessed with the unusual and freakish, and justify their curiosities under the guise of scientific exploration. America's fetishes are constantly on display . . . This is nineteenth century America, and P.T. Barnum's sideshow carnivals are the height of pop culture, surgical experimentation the bloody fascination of scientific discovery. The history we find familiar in the narratives of distinguished intellectual gentlemen is given new life when Schenkar exposes the dark subtext of their stories.
Performance is the conceit.
This is a pre-digital era, but it is an America that is no less driven by popular culture, no less obsessive, no less loyal to the demands of science, no less repressive of the needs of emotional, creative expression than the America of today. Schenkar strikes uncomfortable chords of recognition. She demands that we identify atrocities where they occur. Whether you find constrictive Victorian ideology or blood on the lips of a grinning circus performer more stomach-turning, Signs of Life will catch you giggling at something truly ghastly and have you squirming between delight and disgust. This site was designed by JCCreative Services .