the world as object lesson

8/19/2019 The World as Object Lesson

1/24

The World as Object Lesson: Cinema Audiences, Visual Culture and the St. Louis World's Fair,1904Author(s): Tom GunningSource: Film History, Vol. 6, No. 4, Audiences and Fans (Winter, 1994), pp. 422-444Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815019 .

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2/24

Film

History,

olume

,

pp.

422-444,

1994.

Copyright

John

Libbey

&

Company

ISSN: 892-2160. Printed

n

GreatBritain

T h e world

s

object

lesson:

Cinema

audiences

visual culture

n d

t h e

S t

Louis

world s

fair

19 4

Tom

Gunning

Evanescentmonumentsand dazzling world

pictures:bject

essons

n

modernity

s

the

study

f

early

cinema

broadens,

t

reveals itself less as

a

narrow,

spe-

cializedfield

than

as

a

dynamic

ite of

culturalnteraction.Cinema's

first wo

decades

provide

a

vantage

point

from

which we

can

examine

not

only

he

earliest

period

of

cinema,

butalso

the

currentmodern

ge

that

may

be draw-

ing

to

a

close

(and

the

possibly

post-modern'

uture

thatawaitsus)by allowingus to explore heexperi-

ence

of

modernity

hen it

was

taking

shape.

The

history

f the

beginning

of cinema

previously ro-

vided

an

origin

and

infancy

orthe

development

f

the

newest

art

orm.

Seeingearly

cinema

as a

site

of

complex

culturalntersections akes he

marking

f

this

origin

more

problematic

nd

the

metaphor

f

biologic immaturity

early

untenable.As we move

away

from a naive

teleology

we

must

not

only

abandon

conceiving

of

early

cinemaas the ur-form

of laterpractices,butalso avoidvalorizingtas the

climax

and

culmination

f

a

series

of inventions

nd

cultural

ractices

understood

imply

s

stages

in

the

invention

f 'the

movies'.New

approaches

o

early

cinema

must

place

it

carefully

within he visualand

technological ulturewhich marks he turnof the

century

nd must esist

ituating

inema

as

the

apex

of

that

culture.

Cinema

emerges,

not as a

pinnacle,

but as an

occasionally marginalplayer

upon

a

contested

errain.

Emmanuelle

oulet

n her

masterful

tudy

of

the

role cinema

played

in

the 1900

Paris

Universal

Exposition

as summed

p

film's tatus t the

Exposi-

tion

as 'both

glorious

nd

marginal'.

Its

glory

came froman

unprecedented ublic

recognition nd a number f highlyvisualuses of

cinema,

such as the massive

70'

x

53')

screen

of

the

Lumiere iant

Cin6matographe.

ut

among

the

triumphs

f

technology

nd the

elaborate

attractions

of

the

Fair,

ilm emained

sideshow

rather

han

he

main

event.

As

Toulet

puts

t,

'It

was not

felt

in

this

Tom

Gunning

is

a

Founding

Member

f

Domitor,

author f

D.

W.

Griffith nd the

Origins

of

American

Narrative

Film:The

Early

Yearsat

Biograph

Univer-

sity of IllinoisPress),and of numerous rticleson

early

cinema.He

teaches

Film

History

n

the

Depart-

ment

of

Radio,

Television nd Film t

Northwestern

University.

ddress

orrespondence

/o

Radio,

TV,

Film,

Annie Mae

Swift

Hall,

NorthwesternUniver-

sity,

Evanston,

L

0208,

USA.


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3/24

Theworldas object

lesson

423

context

o

be

a

revolutionary

ttraction,

ut

formed

part

of

a tradition

f

technical

reproduction

nd

of

spectacles

of

illusion

f

which it

seemed

to

be

the

industrialorerunner ather

han

the

perfected

re-

placement'2.

Initial

esearch

ntoThe

Louisiana urchaseEx-

position

held

in St.

Louis,

Missouri

n

1904

reveals

that our

ears

ater

nd

on

another ontinenthe role

of cinema

was,

if

anything,

more

marginal.

Cinema

had no official

recognition

r

high profilepresence

at

the

St.

LouisFair.

Its main

role

was

that of

a

backstage

technology

for other attractionswhich

offeredmechanical llusionsmorevividand

sensa-

tional

han the

rather eeble

experience

offered

by

motionpictures lone. Andyeta close examination

of this air

(particularly

n

relation

o the

fair

t

sought

to

rival,

The

Columbian

Exposition

n

Chicago

in

1893)

highlights

he

context n which

cinema

ap-

peared,

the

celebration

f

modernity

nd technol-

ogy through

n

emerging

isual

culture,

othofficial

and

popular.

The

new forms f

mechanical

llusions

so

popular

t the

St. Louis

Exposition

lso

ultimately

influencedhe

way

that

cinemawas

popularly

aun-

ched

-

afterthe Fair-

as an attractionn its

own

right.

The

World's

Fair

provides

one of the

richest

instances

f the

visual

and

technological

ulturehat

emerged

n

industrialized

ountriesrom he

middle

of

the nineteenth

century

nto

the

twentieth.Cinema

moves

within

his

cultureess

as

its

culmination

han

as

a

parasite,

drawing

upon

both its

formsand

its

themes

but

initially

emaining elatively eglected,

seeming

like

a

pale

shadow of

richer,

more

vivid,

forms.

But

s such

t

has a

great

deal to tellus

about

the visualpracticeswhichcinemasought oemulate

and fromwhich

t

emerged.

The

World Fairof the

nineteenth

nd

twentieth

century

evealed ts

modernityhrough

seemingly

paradoxical

combination

of

grandeur

and

tran-

sience. The orm f

all

the

Universal

xpositions

as

monumentalnd

often

explicitly

ecalled he

image

of

an

imperial ity,

as

neo-classical

architectural

motifs

xpressed

ts

universal

mbitions

n

terms

of

world domination.

Yet,

at

the same

time,

from

he

CrystalPlace(theur-formf themodern xposition)

of

1

851

on,

these

grand

structures

ere

also

tran-

sient,

made to

be

constructed

uickly

nd

designed

to be

impermanent3.

s Neil

Harris

as said of

the

White

City

of the

Columbian

xposition:

Fairgoers

had

a sense of

evanescence

even

during

he

height

of the

exposition.

Thedream

metaphors

o

easily applied

to the

White

City

suggested

not

only

its

magical

and

illusionistic

qualities,butalso an awareness hatitwould

all soon

vanish,

hat ts

pomp

and

beauty

were

the

things

f

just day. Everyone

new hat

he

fairgrounds

ould

notbe

maintained,

hat

ack-

son

Parkwould be

returnedo the

SouthPark

system

with

he

exposition

alaces

taken

down

after he

closing

date4.

The

creationof

a

disposable

mperial ity,

ex-

pressing

he

power

of

man's dominanceover

the

earth,butdesigned to be ultimatelyiscarded,is

more than

an

amusing

oxymoron,

however.

The

Universal

xhibition as

intended s

the

showplace

for a

commodity

ulturebased on

a

worldwide

network

f

production,

istributionnd

consumption

which

derived

its

impetus

rom

novelty,

a

market

driven

by

thedesire

or he

new.

This

spectacle

of

an

ever

renewing

nd

changing

universal

market

lace

sketched

both

the

formand

content

of the

World

Exposition.

s Walter

Benjamin

bserved:

The

world

exhibitions

lorified

he

exchange

values

of commodities.

They

created

a frame-

work

n

whichtheir

use

value

receded

into he

background.

hey

opened

up

a

phantasmago-

ria in

which

people

entered in

order to

be

distracted5.

In

his

respect

he

very

evanescenceof the

fair

reflected

he nature

f the

commodity

t

showcased,

especially

heir

ransient

novelty

nd

the

rapidity

f

theirworldwide irculation.heWorld'sFairExhibi-

tions

in

which the

ability

o

purchasegoods

was

replaced

by

their

purelyoptical

consumption,

m-

aged

the

commodity

as

spectacle6.

As

such it

served as one of

the

great

training

rounds

and

laboratoriesor a

new

commodity-based

isual

cul-

ture.

It

raised the

act

of

spectating

o a civic

duty

and a

technological

rt.

These

pectacles,

designed

to

be

both

entertaining

nd

educational,

served

several

semiotic

unctions:

they

provided

n

image

of theworldwide powerof capitalism;heytrans-

formeda

market

place

into

a

symbolic

andscape

thatnot

only

celebratedbut

exemplified

modernity;

and

they

formed

a

spectacle

in

which

commodity

provided

he

entertainment,

nd the

commodity

orm

The

world as

object

lesson

423




4/24

424

Tom

Gunning

of

entertainment

tselfwas raisedto

a

new technical

erfection.

As AlanTrac-

tenberg

has described

he

effectof the

Columbian

Exposition:

Visitors o

the Fair found

them-

selves as

spectators,

witnesses o

an

unanswerable

performance

which

they

had no hand

in

pro-

ducing

or

maintaining.

The fair

was delivered

to

them,

made

available

o them.And

delivered,

moreover,

ot

as an actual

place,

a

real

city,

butas a

frank

llusion,

a pictureof what a city, a real

city,

might

ook like. White

City

represented

itself as a

repre-

sentation,

n admitted

ham7.

The

World

Exposition,

then,

served as

a site where not

only

the

products

f

modernity

ere

displayed

but he

protocols

f

modern

pectating

were rehearsed

within he contextof a

new

consumer ulture.

n

hissite

Capi-

talism, Industrialismnd Imperialism

stagemanoged

a

complex

interaction

among technology,

commodity, pec-

tacle

and,

ultimately,

new forms of

popular

culture,

all of which

shaped

the

emergence

of cinema.

The World

Exposition

was de-

signed,

then,

not

simply

as a site of

display

butas a

carefully

aid out

text,

whose mode

of

organization

erved

an educationaland ideologicalfunc-

tion.

This effort

n

planning

and

ar-

rangement

marked the cultural

pretension

of

the

Expositions

which

Figs.

a,

1

b,

1

c. TheSt. Louis

World's

Fairas an

imperial ity

of

new

technology:

a ThePalaceof

Transportation,

b

ThePalaceof

Electricity,

nd

1c ThePalaceof

Machinery. romLouisiana urchase

Exposition

St.

Louis:

Official

Photographic

o., 1904).

[Courtesy

of

Special

Collections,

Deering

Library,

orthwestern

niversity.]

...........

... :E a:

:? ?? ???? ~??il????1?? ??????l?i?

424

Tom

Gunning




5/24

Theworld

as object lesson

425

sought

not

simply

o

gather

he

marvels

f

the

world

but o sort hem ntoa schemawhichwould

demon-

strateman's

technologicalprogress

and the

world

wide

dimensions f modern

roduction.

uch

organ-

izationwas alreadyevidentat the CrystalPalace

where PrinceAlbert

proposeddividing

he

displays

into our

categories:

Raw

Materials;

Machinery

nd

Mechanical

nventions; anufactures;

culpture

nd

PlasticArts

Generally8.

Most of the World

Exposi-

tions

ollowed

a similar

plan, by

whichvisitors ould

trace the

logic

of civilization rom he

potential

f

raw naturalmaterial

including

he

display

of

colo-

nial

peoples,

or the beautiesof

nature),

hrough

he

mechanicalmeans of

technological

ransformation,

to the exhibition f finalproducts, ccompaniedby

a

display

of the FineArts s the final

orm f cultural

sublimation.

Plannersof

World

Expositions

xplicitly

de-

signed

the eventsas

educational exts.The

Exposi-

tionwas mostoften

compared

o an

encyclopaedia

which not

only gathered

but

also classified and

organized

the diverse

knowledge

of a culture.The

Directorf

Exhibitionsor he St. Louis

air,

Frederick

J.

V. Skiff escribedhis Fair s:

an

encyclopaedia

of

society

... a

classified,

compact,

indexed

compendium

vailable for

ready

reference of the

achievementsand

ideas

of

society

in

all

phases

of its

activity,

extending

o

the most

material s well as

the

most

refined9.

But this was a

peculiarly

modern

text,

one

embodied less in

verbal

signifiers

han

in

visual

ones, exemplifying new conceptionof education

which made use

of

things

themselves ather

han

conventional

igns.

By

the turnof

the

century

he

World

Exposition

erved

as the

demonstration

f the

latest

theory

n

education,

the

'object

lesson',

an

approachpioneered

n

schoolsand

museums hich

depended

less on

language

to

convey knowledge

than on

pictures

and,

when

possible,

scrutinized

actual

objects

for

the

lessons

they

contained?0.

George

Brown

Goode of

the

Smithsonian

nstitute,

whoarranged xhibits ora largenumber f World

Expositions

beginning

with

the

1876

Philadelphia

Centennial

Exposition),

as a

strong

advocate of

the

object

esson

whichhe

tracedbackto

the

Crystal

Palace.

Goode

proclaimed

he

dictum,

to see

is to

know',

and his

theory

f

educationvalorized

visual

methods f

conveying

nformation:

The

eye

is

used moreand

more,

the

ear

less

and less, and in theuse of theeye, descriptive

writing

s setaside for

pictures,

nd

pictures

n

their urn

re

replacedby

actual

objects.

In

he

schoolroom,

he

diagram,

heblackboard

nd

the

object

lessonunknown

hirty

ears ago

are

universallymployed11.

For

Goode,

an

Exposition

houldbe 'an

illus-

trated

Encyclopaedia

of Civilization'12.

he

term

'object

esson' became

the buzzword which

justi-

fiedthe

World

Exposition

s an educational

xperi-

ence. (Theguide prepared

by

the Bostonand

Maine

Railroad

o

lure isitors

n their our f

theSt.

Louis

Fair

urged

them not to

miss 'This

marvellous

object

lessonof Twentieth

entury

rogress'13).

he

object

esson's

cientific

retentions

ouldalso

cloak

its

ideological

role. For

nstance,

Director

General

Buchanan f the

Buffalo

an-American

Exposition

f

1901

(the

largest

American

nternational

air

be-

tween the

Chicago

Exposition

nd the St.

Louis air

and the firstafter

the UnitedStates

fulfilledts

im-

perialambitions y obtaining olonial

possessions)

used the

concept

o

explain

ts

Philippine

xhibition.

'This s

the first nd

best

opportunity

e

have

had',

he

declared,

'to

justify, y

meansof

the most

avail-

able

object

lesson

we can

produce,

he

acquisition

of new

territory'14.

n

his

case the

'objects'

ncluded

not

only

raw material

nd

artifacts rom

he

Philip-

pines,

butalso

native

peoples.

The

object

lesson

with

its

direct

and

visual

evidence,

seemed to short

ircuit

he act of

significa-

tionand to bring he things hemselves efore the

spectatingpublic.

However,

he

discourse

urround-

ing

the

expositions

ontinued o

describe

he

experi-

ence

as a

mediated

one,

organized

as

knowledge

and

demonstration,

nd

experienced

as a

picture.

Director kiff f

the St.

Louis air

described ts

effect

as a

'living

picture'

a

term

which,

of

course,

was

also

applied

to

the nascent

inema,

although

with

a

somewhat

different

meaningl.

The

grounds

of

the

Expositions

n

the

United

States

from

Chicago

through uffaloo St.Louiswere laidout notonlyas

demonstrationsf

the

relations

etween

nature nd

technology,

but with

a

strong

concernfor

the uni-

fying

effectsof the

picturesque,

ith

he

axial

boule-

vards

providingpredetermined

iew

points

and

The

world as

object

lesson

425




6/24

426

Tom

Gunning

Fig.

2.

A

map

of the St. LouisFair

providedby

the Boston nd

MaineRailroad

1904).

[Courtesy

f

Special

Collections,

DeeringLibrary,

orthwestern

niversity.]

compositional

entres,

visualeffectsunderscored

y

reflecting ools

and

nocturnallectrical

llumination.

The Bostonand Maine Railroad uide to the St.

LouisFairdescribed

t

as a 'matchless

icture'.

The

official

proclamation

f the St. Louis

Exposition

ndi-

cated

that visual effects and

liveliness ould serve

educational

and

ideological purposes

when

it

an-

nounced, 'Life,colour,

motionand demonstration

[willbe]

the chief feature f all

departments5.

Of

course,

the total effect of a World

Exposi-

tionrested

on its

attempt

o

produce

a world

picture,

an

imago

mundi

rganized

around he demandsof

commerceand the methodsof technology.As the

Exposition

elebrated

he

triumphs

f

technology

n

the 'annihilationf

space

and

time'16,

he

image

it

offeredof the

world contained

within

ts bounded

grounds

ought

o

provide

a miniature

ompendium

of all the

world had to

offer,

brought ogether

at

great expense

and effort.One official

history

f the

St. LouisFairdescribed

it

as the

'latest

attempt

o

bring

what

is

practically

he whole world into an

enclosure

of 1240 acres'17.The Fair tselfwas

a

worldin which space and time had been, if not

annihilated,

ignificantly

educed.

The

World's

Fair

was a

microcosmwhose

miniaturizationot

only

affirmed he

new

unity

of the

globe

but also made

possible

ts

consumption

s a

single,though

diverse,

spectacle.

A

trip

round

he

fairgrounds

as seen as

the substituteor a

trip

aroundthe

world,

a com-

pressedand timesavingducational xperience.As

the Boston

nd Maine Railroad

uide

to

the

St. Louis

Fair

put

it:

Taking

it

all

altogether,

the

domestic and

foreign

exhibitscombined

represent

he con-

crete

expression

f

modern ivilization nd im-

press

upon

the

eye

and the mind of the

beholder

hatwhichwould

require ears

of time

and

thousands f dollars o learn

by

personal

travel18.

But

f

the

compression

nd

variety

f the World

Exposition

as

designed

to educate and enrich he

spectator,

he

modernity

f this

experience

is also

revealed

by

its excessive nature.While a

profound

and extensive

understanding

f the modernworld

and man's

progressprovided

he

purpose

ora visit

to the

Fair,

he

initial

ffect

(at least)

often

produced

neither

knowledge

nor

insight,

but

dazzlementand

sensory

overload.

This

response

of

complete

astonishmentn the face of the spectacle is vividly

expressedby

a

postcard

preserved

rom he Philad-

elphia

Centennial

Exposition

n

which words

give

way

to sheer

play

of

phonemes:

Dear

Mother,

Oh. Oh. o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

9

426

Tom

Gunning




7/24

427

Observers

more

articulate

(if

no more ex-

pressive)

escribe similar

xperiences.

Owen

Wis-

ter,

the author

f the novel

The

Virginian,

escribed

his

entry

nto the Columbian

Exposition:

before

I

had walkedfor two minutes, bewildermentt the

gloriousness

f

everything

eized

me ... until

my

mindwas dazzled to

a standstill'20.

nd

a

journalist

for

HarpersWeekly

covering

he

Trans-Mississippi

and

International

xposition

held

in Omaha

in

1

898

reported,

I

have

seen

men

and

womenstand

stupified

t the

entrance

f theGrand

Court,

blinded

as

they

would have

been

by

a flash

of

lighting'21.

Occasionally

hisdazzlement

was

literal,

aused

by

the

bright

white scheme

of mostAmerican

World

Expositions

rom heWhite

City

on, a

key aspect

of

the visual

experience

devised

by

Fair

planners.

But

moreoften he dazzlement

was the

product

otof a

single

visual timulus

ut of theiraccumulation.

he

special

Exposition

Numberof

the

magazine

The

World's

Work

covering

he St. LouisFairwarned

would-bevisitors bout

the Fair's endless

variety

f

things

o

see

-

theseat

first

produce

n

impression

f

bewilderment'22.

n

act,

Dr.

Charles

Hughes

a

pro-

fessorof

neurology

t Barnes

Medical

College

in

St.

Louis

urged

his

colleagues

to

prevent

any

patients

diagnosed

with nervousdisorders

rom

visiting

he

St.

Louis

Fair

for

fear its

very

massiveness

might

occasion a total

collapse23.

The

most

poignant

account

of the overwhelm-

ing

effect of a World's

fair

comes from author

HamlinGarland'smemoirsof

bringing

his

aged

parents

rom

heirmidwest

homestead

o

visitChi-

cago's

White

City.

Garlanddescribed

his

mother's

reaction

s

they

watched he

nightly

pectacle

of

the

electrical lluminationf the

fairgrounds:

Stunned

y

the

majesty

f the

vision,

my

mother

sat

in

her

chair,

visioning

t

all

yet

comprehend-

ing

little

f its

meanings

.. At

last

utterly

ver-

come she leaned her head

against my

arm,

closed

her

eyes

and

said,

'Takeme home.

I

can'tstand

any

more

of it'. ... In ruth

hey

were

surfeitedwith he

alien,

sick of the

picturesque.

Their

ars suffered rom he clamour

f

strange

sounds as theireyes ached with the clash of

unaccustomedolor'24.

Thevisual

effectof the

World

Exposition,

hen,

teetersbetween

the

rational nd

classifying

knowl-

edge

of

the

object

lesson and

an

experience

of

bewilderment

efore he

intensity

f

technology

nd

cultural

nd sensual

variety.

Rather

hanvisualmas-

tery

and

understanding,

he

spectacle

could

pro-

duce an excessive

experience

which risked

eaving

no

impression

t all other hanthatof the limits f

perception

nd no lessonother han

Dorothy

Gale's

plaintive,

There's o

place

likehome'.

Dazzlement

layed

an essential ole

in the vis-

ual attraction

f the

fair,

even

if

its

place

was

rarely

explicitly

heorized.Most

descriptions

imit hisdaz-

zlement o

an initial

xperience

on

first

beholding

the

Fair,

a

suitably

awed

entry

which would then

give way

to the morerational

bject

lessonsof the

exhibition.

However,

he somewhat

uneasy

relation

between dazzlement and

knowledge

marks he

complex experience

of

this

exemplar

of modern

visuality,

s

it

also markedhe

contemporary

inema

of

attractions25.

journalistovering

he St. Louis

Fair

described

he

exposition's

ducationalmethod

in

terms

of

the modern

experience

of

'shock',

pro-

claiming:

The air s a successionof mental

hocks,

cumulative

nd educational'26.

t s

no

wonder

hat

doctors

might

advise

their

neurasthenic

atients

o

avoid

thisrather

olting

ducational

xperience.

Why

wouldshockand dazzlement

play

a cen-

tral role in a

supposedly

educational

xperience?

While the answers or

this

are

undoubtedlymultiple

(e.g.

the

political

uses of awesome

spectacle

in a

society

demanding

ew

disciplines

or tswork orce

and

building

upport

or

military

nvolvement

n

the

struggle

or colonial

possessions),

t

is

possible

to

consider he World

Exposition

s the

monumental

formof a visual

processing

of

modern ife

through

the mediumof

spectacular

attractions.

While the

experience

of dazzlementcame

largely

from the

effect of

the

fairgrounds

tself

-

their

immensity,

variety

and intense

visuality,

t

also served as

the

proper

ramework

n which

to

experience

he

won-

ders of new

technology

which

promised

bewilde-

ring

ransformationsn

daily

ife.

Modern

technology played

an

increasingly

centralrole

in World

Expositions

s

they

moved

towards he

twentieth

century.Machinery,

Electricity

and

Transportation

xhibitions

eem to elbow their

way

into the

ideological

and

spatial

centreof the

symbolic

geography

of

the

fairgrounds.

Electricity

especially

commanded n

increasingly

entral

posi-

tion,

gaining

its own

building

at

the Columbian

Exposition, epresentedby

the massive

Electrical

The

world

as

object

lesson




8/24

428

Tom

Gunning

Towerat the Buffalo

Exposition

meant

o

'suggest

the

triumph

f

man'sachievement'

ccording

o the

Fair's

planners)28,

nd

occupying

he true

centreat

the St. Louis

Exposition.

he World's

Workread the

symbolic ayout

f the St.

Louis air

n

a manner hat

underlined the

role

of

electricity:

'The

larger

meaning

f

the

whole scheme sthis:First

ower nd

Electricity

nd

Machinery.

The

machines

that

run

and

light

the Fair

marka new era

in

the use of

electricity.

.. For he first

ime

electricity

s the domi-

nant

power.

It

may

well turn

ut that he new

age

of

Electricity

ill

date from he

Fair.

The

public

will,

for

the first

ime,

be made aware

of the extent o which

sucha

new

era has

already

come'28.

As had

been true of World Fairs

from The

Chicago Exposition

n,

the illuminationf

the fair-

grounds

by

electric

ight

- the

spectacle

that

pro-

duced Mrs. Garland's

desire to returnhome

-

servedas the

principal

emonstrationf the

power

of the new

energy.

With

its

transfiguration

f

night,

this

scientificdemonstration

n

the formof

a

spec-

tacle overcame he

orderof nature.

A

history

f the

St. LouisFairdescribes he

deep

audience

absorp-

tion

n

the

technological pectacle

of the first fficial

lighting

f the

fairgrounds:

Inwhisperingilence thegreatthrongwatched

the

first aint

glow

of the

lights

n

the

various

buildings,

and as the

splendour

grew,

ani-

mated

expressionsproduced

a

humming

oise

which

gave way

to

deafening

cheers

as

the full

Fig.

3. ThePalaceof

Electricity

t

night.

FromThe

Greatest

f

Expositions

Completely

llustrated

St.

Louis:Official

Photographic

Co.,

1904).

[Courtesy

f

Special

Collections,

DeeringLibrary,

Northwestern

University.]

effectof the

glorious

pectacle

was

realized

..

The

myriads

f

electric

ights,

glimmering

nd

twinkling

rom

very

nookand

corner f the

big

Worlds Fair

building,

ransformed

he

grounds

intoan enchanted

ity

filled

with

fairypalaces

of

light

and

gold29.

The new

scientific era of

electricity

was

presented

s a

strange

and

otherworldlypectacle,

a

fairyland

ttraction

more hanan

object

esson.Or

rather ts

effectiveness

as a lesson was

founded

upon

its

uncannypower.

The

World's Work de-

scribed the

dazzling

sensual effect

of

entering

he

electrical xhibit:

As

you

enter he

Palace of

Electricityou

hear

uncanny

whirrings

and

snappings;

you

see

electrical

ights

of hues and intensities

hat

you

neversaw

before;

strange

machines

begin

to

glide

or whirr r

glow

or click.

The

meaning

of

all these

things

s that

electricity

s

put

to

more

varieduses ... than

ever before30.

But

if

this

description

moves

effortlessly

rom

dazzlement o

meaning,

he cumulative

ffectof the

display

of

the new

uses of

electricity

ould still

deliver a shock

as these

magical

technologies

caused a revolutionntheexperience f space, time

and

human

presence.

TheSt.

Louis air

n

particular

abounded

in

technological

nventions

which

could

send

messages

instantaneously

cross

distance.

Among

hesewere the

'telautograph'

hich

'through

428

Tom

Gunning




9/24

Theworldas object lesson 429

Fig.

4. TheDe Forest

Wireless

Telegraph

ower.

[From

The

Greatest f

Expositions ompletely

Illustrated.]

the medium

of but two wires

connecting

distant

points,

s used to transmit

ith

exactnessa

message

writtent a

sendingpoint

o

a

receiving

tation.

The

person

writing

he

message

writes

witha

stylus

much

likean

ordinary encil,

and

at the distant

receiving

station second

stylusaccurately eproduces

ach

stroke f thepoint nthe hand of the sender'31.The

telegraphone,

n

early

formof

answering

machine

using

wire

recording,

was

capable

of

receiving

messages

'during

one's absence'32.

These invent-

ionsnot

only

maximized he

ability

of

previous

ech-

nologies

o overcome

distance,

but could

transport

thetraditional

ign

of one's

presence,

he

signature,

or could receive

messages during

one's absence.

Technology

as

increasingly roblematizing

he

na-

ture f

bodilypresence

and

experience.

TheMachinery nd Transportationxhibits t

the St.

LouisFairalso

pictured

a world

in

which

distance

was

collapsing.

The LouisianaPurchase

Exposition

resented

he first

arge

automobiledis-

play

at

an American

Fair33,

and announced a

grand

competition

n

aeronautic

achievement,

al-

though

ue to stiff

egulations

o aircraft as able to

qualify

ora

prize34.

But he dominant

echnological

marvel t St. Louis

was

certainly

he De ForestWire-

less

Telegraph

Tower. One

history

of the Fair

claimed hatas thePhiladelphia entennialExposi-

tion was

remembered or the introductionf the

telephone

and the

Chicago

Exposition

ad

popu-

larized

he incandescent

ight

bulb,

he St. Louis air

wouldbe recalled or he De

Forest ower35.

he

De

ForestTower tood

hundreds

f

feet

high,

a

major

structuref the Fair.

t

could ransmitadio

messages

a distanceof

1500

miles,

with

receiving

tations

n

Kansas

City

and

Springfield,

llinois.

The

encroaching

domain of

popular

amusements:

exoticism,

technology

and

virtual

voyages

I

paid

a visit o the

Fair,

he

wondrous

ights

o

see;

I

really

elt

bewildered,

confess

Suchmarvellousnventions f

ingenuity

'Twas

trange

o

see

the

different

tyles

of dress.

On

the

Midway,

the

Midway,

the

Midway

Plaisance

Where the naughtygirlsfromAlgiersdo the

KoutaKouta

ance,

Marriedmen when

with

their wives

give

a

longingglance,

At the

naughty

doings

on the

Midway

Plais-

ance.

-

song by

W.C.

Robey,

1893

(my

thanks

o

Richard

rangle)

TheWorld

Exposition,

hen,

offered

object

essons

n

technology hroughhe medium f visualspectacle

which

presented

he

astounding

ransformationsf

modern

ife

within

form

esigned

to

dazzle as

well

as instruct. ut

t

is

possible

hat he

enduringegacy

that

he World

Exposition

eft

modern isualculture

The world as

object

lesson 429




10/24

430

Tom

Gunning

lies

precisely

n

ts

dazzling

effects

which

may

convey

as

much bout

he transformationsf modern

xperi-

ence

as

the

lessons

hey

were

supposed

o

communi-

cate. Visual

pectaclepervades

heWorld

Exposition

but inds tspurest emonstrationnwhatwas known

as the Concessions

Section,

he

commercial muse-

ment

areas

of the Fair

which

progressively

nvaded

American

xpositions,ooming

s

their

ark

hadow

or

evil

twin.

It

s in thisarea that he

Exposition's

inks

to

early

cinema

are the

strongest.

The attitude

of the American

Expositions

o-

wards

commercial

musementsmoved fromexclu-

sion

through rudging

nclusion

nd

containment

o

a

somewhatcautious

mbrace,

charting

change

in officialculture'selationo popular ntertainment

as

well as

a

technical

transformation

f

popular

culture

tself.

Atthe

Philadelphia

entennial

n 1876

commercial

musements

ad been excluded.

How-

ever,

outside

the

perimeter

f the

fairgrounds

n

unregulated

commercial

'Centennial

City'

had

grown

up

down

Elm

Street,

hronged

with visual

entertainments

uch

as

dioramas,

displays

of 'Wild

Men

of Borneo'and

freak

shows,

as

well

as

food

stands.

These

flimsily

onstructed ttractions

rew

crowds and caused concerns about fire, safety,

crime,

and

propriety36.

heColumbian

xposition

n

Chicago

in 1

893 decided

to

include

commercial

entertainment

ection

primarily

n

order

o exertcon-

trol

over it. The

Midway,originally

esigned

as an

area

for the overflow

of

crowds

waiting

o

get

into

the

Fair,

became

a

thoroughfare

f commercial

t-

tractions

eading

away

from

he

orderly pace

of

the

Exposition

roper.

The

Exposition's

mbivalent

ttitudeoward

his

formof popularcommercial ntertainmentan be

seen

through

ts

marginal

lacement

within he

Fair's

symbolic

geography,

a

rectangular

ection

eading

perpendicularly

way

from

he

grounds

proper.

The

Exposition's

resident,

Harlow

Higginbotham,

usti-

fied

the

inclusion f

commercial

ntertainments

n

the

Midway

Plaisance

hrough

heir

patial

position-

ing:

... located

as

it

was,

separate

rom

he

Exposi-

tionproper,so that those who were not dis-

posed

to visit he

sights

o

be

seen

there

did

not

have

them orced

upon

hem,

he

Plaisancewas

a feature

rom

he absence

of

which

he

Exposi-

tionwouldhave

suffered

reatly37.

Like he eccentric

placement

f

this

area,

Hig-

ginbotham's

laborate

use

of

litotes

expresses

the

literal

and cultural

distance

the

Exposition

main-

tained rom

he commercial

musements. he

orderly

facades of the mainexhibition uildings, he neo-

classical

palaces,

the GrandBasin

and

the Court

f

Honor,

which

formed,

as

Neil

Harris

puts

it 'the

visible

centre,

he

ordered

heart,

he source

of

con-

trol'38 f the Fair

occupied

a

carefully

designed

central

rea from

which

the

Fair

adiatedoutward.

The

Midway dangled

like an

appendage

pointing

toward

the

dispersal

of

unorderedurban

space

along

the

risky

pathways

of

pleasure.

The

actual

attractions

ffered

hereoften

played

on the

disorien-

tation hatvisualdistortionffered,rather han the

centered

and

orderly

pace

of the main

Exposition

which

guaranteed

ultural

olidity

nd

enriched

per-

sonal

dentity.

n

ontrastheamusementreas

of the

Exposition'sisplayed

a

carnivalesque

onfusion f

identity,

as

in

this

description

f

'The

Temple

of

Mirth',

an attraction

rom

the

'Pike',

he

St.

Louis

Exposition

amusement

rea:

'Mirrors

hatdistort

he

human

body

confront

he

visitor,

urnwhich

way

he

will;

ooking

one direction

ou

seem to

weigh

300

pounds,another ess than 100; or a tall man is

made

short nd a shortman

all'39.

But ike

the bodies

of water included

n

nearly

all

American

Expositions

which mirrored an

etherealized

eflection

f

Fairground uildings,

he

Midwayactually

erved

a

vitalrole

in the

Chicago

Exposition'symbolic eography,providing

bit of

shadow

for he

dazzling

White

City,

a ballast or

ts

idealism.

Fair

designer

Daniel

Burnham

aw

the

trajectory

rom the central

Courtof Honor

to the

Midwayas a journeyromorder to chaos40.The

Rand

McNally

Guide

to

the Columbian

Exposition

organized

he

fair

according

o three

distinct rchi-

tectural

tyles:

the

dignified

neoclassicism

of the

buildings

round

he Grand

Basin,

the

less

formal

architecture

f the

outlying

buildings

nd state

and

foreign

pavillions

nd

finally

he

Midway

Plaisance

where no distinct rder

s

followed,

t

being

instead

a most

unusual ollection

of almost

every type

of

architecture

known to man

-

oriental

villages,

Chinesebazaars,tropicalettlements,ce railways,

the

ponderous

FerrisWheel and

reproductions

f

ancientcities.

All

these

are combined

o form he

lighter

nd more antastic

ide of the

Fair'41

The

Midway

Plaisance

erved

not

only

as

the

430

Tom

Gunning




11/24

Theworldas object lesson

431

Fig.

5. TheRand

McNally

Guideto the

Columbian

Exposition.

[From

Grand llusion: he

WorldColumbian

Exposition

Chicago:

Chicago

Historical

ociety,

1993).]

fantastic

spect

of the

fair,

but as a literal ounter-

image

to the civilization emblazoned

in

the

monumentalrchitecture

f the official

buildings.

The

strongpresence

of exotic oriental

Bedouins,

Egyp-

tians, Tunisians, Sudanese, Turks, Chinese,

Japanese and Javanese) and 'primitive' ultures

(American

ndians,

Dahomeans

nd SouthSea Islan-

ders)

related he

Midway

to the non-white

majority

of the

world,

positioned

on the outskirtsf civiliza-

tion.The

Chicago

Tribune

escribeda

tripalong

the

Midway

as an

'opportunity

o descend the

spiral

of

evolution',

iewing

these

peoples

from the racist

perspective

hat

historian obert

Rydell

emonstrates

was embodied

by

the Fair's

popularization

f Dar-

winian

principles42.imilarly

character

n

a con-

temporaryoveldescribinga trip o the Exposition

fitted he

Midway

back into he

object

lesson

classi-

fications f the

larger

chema

by claiming,

Midway

is

just representation

f matter nd the

great

White

City

s an emblem

of Mind'43.

But f

the

layout

of the

symbolic pace

of the

Columbian

xpositionencouraged

a contrastbe-

tween

the White

City

and the

Midway,

one could

also

find a number f similarities etween the two

areas. The

Midway

with

its exotic internationalt-

tractionsouldclaimas justifiablys the WhiteCity

to be a

microcosm,

n

imago

mundi.Andwhile the

Midway

and

he other oncession ections ound

n

later American

Expositions)

ertainlyencouraged

mocking

acistattitudes

n

many

visitors,

t

was also

possible

to invert he

implied

value

structuref the

fairground

nd

prefer

he colourand

cultural

iver-

sity

of the

Midway

to

the solemnand sterile deal

City

Beautiful

proposed

by

the White

City.

The

young

Jewish

entrepreneur

laced

in

charge

of

the

Midway,Sol Bloom, ndicated n his memoirshat

this

was his own

experience,

claiming

that 'the

spiritualntensity

f

the

performance resentedby

a

troupe

f Bedouin crobatsexceeded the

emotional

power

of a

pre-Renaissance

apestry'44.

he Mid-

way

carriedother

object

lessons or Bloom han he

officialone:

I

came to realize thata tall

skinny

hap

from

Arabia

with

a talent for

swallowing

swords

expressed

a

culturewhich to me was on

a

higher

plane

than theone

demonstrated

y

a

group

of earnestSwiss

peasants

who

passed

their

day making

heese

and

milk

hocolate

..

And

I

could not

pretend

o

deny

that

God's

handiwork eemed

more

clearly

shown

in

the

musicof even a second

rate band than

in

all

the

products

f the world'smillsand

factories

hereon

display45.

On the other

hand,

the

relationbetween the

Midwayand the WhiteCity mightbest be charac-

terizedas

neither ontrast or

dentity,

utas

demys-

tification,

as

the

Midway

with

its overt

commercialismnd

open

courting

f visual

ascina-

tion tended to

desublimate he

pretensions

f the

The world as

object

lesson

431




12/24

432

Tom Gunning

official

Exposition

nd bare

its devices. On the

Midway,

TheWhite

City'scapitalism

nd

imperial-

ism

cloaked

in universal dealismbecame

a com-

mercial

carnivalesque

Towerof

Babel,

where

the

powers

of visualdazzle

provided

heir wn

justifica-

tion.

As

if

acknowledging

the secret

identity

be-

tween

the methods

of official

exhibitsand

the con-

cession

area,

eleven

years

laterat the St. Louis

air

the amusement

centre,

known as the

Pike,

had

switched

positions.

As the

St. LouisWorld

noted,

for

Fig.

6. Twoviews of 'the

Pike'.

Fig.

6a

(upper).

Looking

own

the

Pike,

rom

The

Grec

Expositions ompletely

llustrated.

ig.

6b

(lower).

The

looking

ast,

from

Louisiana

urchase

Exposition.

the first ime 'a street

of

concessions

becomes the

earliest

mpression

f the visitors'46. heofficialatti-

tude toward the amusements rea still

expressed

reservationsbout

its

popularity.

n

official

history

of theFair

xpressed

his entative

cceptance

of the

Pikeas an

undeniable,

f

not

entirely

elicitous,

e-

ality:

Indeed

t

must e admitted

with

however

much

regret

hatthe side

shows

probably

draw as

many

people

as the mainexhibit'47.

Although

he Pike still holds

something

of

a

liminal

lace

within

he

Fair,

ts

positionparallel

o

the entrance eems to

proclaim

tas an

alternativeentre o the

Exposition,

n-

other

way

to conceive its

image

of

the

world.TheSt. Louis air eemeddeter-

mined o stress he Pike's imilaritieso

the fairratherhan ts

opposition.

And, indeed,

the terms

used

to

describe

the

Pike

clearly

reflect

hose

used

to

describe

World

Expositions

generally.

The

pressagent

forthe Pike

described

it in

terms that

recall

Goode's

description

f the Fairas ob-

ject

lesson: ThePike s a

living

olour

page of theworld,and picturespeak

louder than words'48.

The

St. Louis

World

declared

n

a headline ToSee

The PikeIs to See the Entire

World'49,

a sentiment econded

by

the Boston

:

and

Maine Railroad

Guide

which

claimed,

'a

journey

p

and down the

:

'the

Pike'

practically

mounts o a tour

of the world'50.

imilarly

ackson's

Fa-

mous

Photographs

f the St. LouisEx-

positionand 'thePike' aw thePikeas

the

most

nternational

rea

of

the

Fair,

describing

t

as 'themost

osmopolitan

thoroughfare

n

the

world. Denizens

from all

quarters

f the

globe

come

and

go, attracting

he visitor's ttention

by

their

quaint

customs,

peculiar

speech

and

strangegarb'51

Once

again

this world

picture

consisted

primarily

f

exotic native

peoples on display, includingattrac-

tions

inhabited

by

natives of

Persia,

rtestof

Ceylon,

Burma,

Hindustan,

apan,

Pa-

Pike,

lestine,

Turkey; panishgypsies, Hairy

Ainus

rom

apan, Patagonian

ndians,

432

Tom

Gunning




13/24


433

African

pygmies,

Kwakiutl

nd Zuni

Native

Ameri-

cans

(as

well as

visits

by

such

great

war

chiefs

as

Geronimo,

Chief

Joseph

and

Quantah

Parker).

his

assembly

of

non-western

peoples

was climaxed

by

the

largest anthropological'

xhibit,

displaying

he

inhabitantsf the

United

Statesrecent olonial

pos-

session,

the

Philippines,ncluding variety

f cultu-

ral

groups: Visayans,

Moros,

Bagobos,

Negritos

and

Igorots.

As the

Pike's

mage

of

the

worldwas

not

only

morecolourful nd exotic

than

the

non-commercial

exhibits,

t

was also less unified nd

thrived

n

the

unexpected

uxtapositions

hat he

bringing ogether

of diverse

attractions llowed.

A

guide

to the

Fair

published y

the

Pennsylvania

ailroad

mphasized

the contrasts

along

the

Pike:

The

pectacular

ights

range

from

TheCreation o The

Hereafter.

heCliff-

dwellersare

neighbours

o

the

SouthseaIslanders

and Old St.

Louis

o

Cairo'52.

A

feature n

the Boston

and

Maine

guide

entitled

Odd

Things

n the Pike'

listed n

intentionally

andom rder

attractions

o

be

found

along

the

amusement

horoughfare,

learly

delighting

n

their

incongruity.

hese

ncluded:

A flood of

fifty

housand

gallons

of water

every

minute..

Man who carves

images

on a

single

grain

of

rice ...

Relics rom

Golden

temple

n

Rangoon

..

Zuni

Indians

dance the

mask,

lute

and snake

dance

Eleven

ections of

arcaded

bazaars of

Stam-

boul ..

Devil

dancers

-

the

strange

medicinemen of

Burmah..

Gypsy

lane of

Barcelona

with

genuine

Rom-

anys,

...

Geishas

dance

sing

and

serve tea in

native

kiosk.

World

recreated n

shell

150

feet

in

diameter;

1

5 feet

high

...

Transparent

irrors;

ou

dissolve

nto

a master-

piece

...

Cafe

Chantantshe

elixir

f

Parisian

ever

..

Burmesevillage with houses of straw and

strange

people.

The Maine will

be

blown

up

in

Havana har-

bour

..

Church

f

Holy Sepulchre,

ize of

original

n

Jerusalem

..

Whole streets

transplanted

romAsakusa

in

tight apan.

Flight

ver

the ocean

by airship

..

Discovery

of the North Pole in

twenty

minutes...53

While the

toneof this list

certainly

ituates he

visitor

s a

privileged

western

voyeur

f theworld

of

'strange'

vents

and customs

whichare

often dis-

played

in

a

condescending

and

exploitative

man-

ner,

nonethelesst

s inthe

polyglot

haos

of the

Pike

that

a

more

diverse

mago

mundi

was

available.

The

range

of attractions

along

the Pike

was

enormous, nd itssenseof

variety

nd contrast id

not

come

exclusively

rom he

display

of exotic

cul-

ture.

In

fact

the

Pikeserved as

a

compendium

f

popular

culture s

much

as the

Exposition

roper

servedas

an

encyclopaedia

of official

culture.

The

Bostonand Maine

guide

to the St. Louis

Fair

com-

pared

the

variety

of attractions

ffered

along

the

Pike to

a

vaudeville

how54.

Most of the

exotic

peoples

were,

in

fact,

performers,

ffering

dances,

acrobatic eats or

demonstrationsf

craftsmanship

forthe curious rowds,and were joined

by

perfor-

mers rom

Europe

nd

the

United

States

as well. But

beyond

its actual

vaudeville

component,

he

Pike

offered

range

of visual

ntertainments

consisting

f

attractions

hich

entrepreneurs

elt

could

separate

gawkers

rom heir

coins. This

range

of

attractions

directly

orresponds

o

the

subjects

f

early

cinema.

Running

own

the list

of Pike

attractions,

historian

f

early

cinema

becomes

overcomewith

de6j/

vu.

The

attractions

irectly

parallel

he

genres

of

early

film, both

staged

films and actualities.

Clearly

he exotic

locales

reproduced

n

the Pike

courtthe

same

curiosity

bout

foreign

lands

that

early

travel ilms

do.

These

exhibits

consisted

not

only

of

native

performers

nd

crafts,

but

also of

recreations f their

environment. he

Pike

ncluded

recreationsof

Philippine

villages,

the

streets

of

Cairo,

the

Taj

Mahal,

Constantinople,

n

Irish il-

lage,

the

streets

of

Seville,

The

Holy

City

of

Jerusa-

lem,

St.

Louis

n 1

804,

and

an

astonishingly

ealistic

mock

up

of the

Tyrolean

lps.

Railway

ourneys,

o

important

o the

early

travel

genre,

also

abounded

on

the

Pike,

rom

he

threemile

long

Scenic

Railway,

to a

forty-five

minute

trip

over the

Trans-Siberian

Railway.

Historic

nd

recent

events

that

served

as

The world

as

object

lesson

433




14/24

Tom

Gunning

the

subjects

of

filmswere re-enacted

s

well,

with

the Galveston

Flood

recurring

n

the

hour;

major

battles

of the BoerWar

restaged

n

an arena

with

several of the

original participants;

he

Battle

of

Santiagoand theexplosionof theBattleshipMaine

were enacted

with

a

22-foot model

battleship

n

a

huge

tank at

the Naval

Exhibit;

nd

a series of

battles were

presented

in

cycloramas

in Battle

Abbey

(including

Philippoteaux's

amous circular

panorama

f

Gettysburg).

A dramatic e-enactment

f the

dangers

n

the

life of American

iremen

was

staged

in

George

C.

Hale's

spectacle

'A

Midnight

Fire

n

GreaterNew

York'.

Visual rickswere offered

in the

Temple

of

Mirth,witha labyrinthf distortingmirrorsnd trans-

formationffects.

The

TyroleanAlps

even

offereda

recreation

f

Oberamergau

assion

Play

seen and

approved

by

1000s

of

ministers'55.

f

course,

this

extraordinaryarallel

n themesbetween

early

ilms

and the

Pikeattractions

oes

not

indicate

mitation

on

the

part

of

the

Fairway

amusements,

but the

contrary.

hesewere

the

range

of

visual

musements

that

early

cinema

sought

o emulate

nd

reproduce.

One

of the

contrasts etween

the Pikeand

the

ChicagoMidwayabouta decade before iesin the

enormous

ncrease

n

mechanical

ttractions

hich

vied

with the exotic

exhibitions

s the mainattrac-

tionsof

the amusement

ection.

The director

f the

St. Louis

Fair tressed

hat he

Pikeamusements

m-

bodied

the sort

of

technological

progress

hat the

main

exhibits

elebrated,

laiming

hat

advances

n

the

theory

of

presenting

uch attractions

made the

scientific

mechanical

and

spectacular

eatures

ar

superior

o those

of

preceeding

xpositions'56.

nter-

taining scientific attractionsoffered a common

ground

between

the amusement

ections and

the

Exposition

proper.

The

placement

of

a scientific

demonstration

n

one area

or the other

eems

often

arbitrary

at

the

Columbian

Exposition,

or

instance,

the Edison

kinetoscope

was slated

to

appear

in

the

Electricity

Building

while

Muybridge's

zoopraxo-

scope

demonstrating

he laws of

animal

ocomotion

was

placed

on

the

Midway).Many

of

the Pike's

attractions

emonstrated

cientific

echnology,

uch

as thepavilion f baby incubatorsn whichspecta-

tors

ould

observe

premature

nfants

n their

ranspar-

ent

warmers,

a

unique

estimony

f the

power

of

modern

cience'57

Technology

in

these

mechanical

attractions

played

a

complex

rolesimilaro that

of

new techno-

logical

devices

appearing during

hese same de-

cades

in

the

magical

theatre of illusions of

Maskelyne

r Meli6sor

in

thefascination

ffered

by

the firstprojectionsf cinema58.On theone hand

they

sought

a

vivid

sensual

ntensity

nd verisimili-

tudethatmoved he attractions

oward

an illusion f

reality.

On

the

other

hand,

hiseffectof verisimilitude

also

displayed

a

triumph

f

technology.

Such mas-

terful llusionsdemonstrated

an

openly

acknow-

ledged stagecraft

ather han

seamlessly reating

a

naturalisticllusion

imed at an effect of

realism.

Thusmechanical

ttractionselivered

o

their

pecta-

tors not

simply

a simulacrum

f

real

events,

but

marvelsf technology.Thecriteria f realism erved

moreas

a

measure f

the

effectivity

f

the technol-

ogy

rather

han

simply

s the finalaim of the

repre-

sentation.

The

elaborate technical

effects of two attract-

ions,

The

Galveston

Floodand Hale's

Midnight

ire,

show how

verisimilitude

nd a tour de force

of

'scientific,

mechanical

and

spectacular

eatures'

both

supplied pectators

with

astonishment

nd

sat-

isfaction:

The

Galveston

Flood

was

a

living

picture

of

remarkableffects

obtained

by

the

use

of

plas-

tic

artcombined

with

mechanics

nd

electricity.

The mmediate

oreground

as real

and the still

life

was full ize.

Real

grass,

real

trees,

fences

and

houses

appeared

around

he

spectator.

As

the

picture

eceded,

objects

gradually

lattened

out,

yet

with their

angles

so constructed

hat

each retained its

true

perspective.

They

be-

came flatter nd

flatteruntil

hey merged

into

silhouettes. n

the view

of

Galveston

he

fore-

ground

was

real water carried

back

into the

picture,

o

that

practically

ll the water

apping

the beach

and

stretchingway

into he

middle

distance

was real.

A

new

invention

ept

the

water

n

continual

motion.The llusionwas

car-

ried out all

the

way

to

the horizon o

thatthe

eye

could

follow

a wave

as

it flowed

from

under he

feet of

the

spectator

ar

away

into he

picture,

until

ts

individuality

as

lost

in the

wide ocean distance59.

Firefighting

as

something

ew

under

he

guise

of entertainment.

corps

of

wonderfully

rained

firemenwho were almost

circus

performers

n

434




15/24


435

Fig.

7. The

Galveston

Flood,

fromThe

Greatest f

Expositions

ompletely

Illustrated.

agility

and acrobaticskill

kept

the

thrillswork-

ing

for

nearly

an hour.Seated in a

vast audito-

rium he audiencewatched the alarm

urned

n

to a modern

ire station ive hundred eet from

thegrandstand. he iremenwere seen to leave

their

beds,

slide down

the brass

poles,

hitch he

horsesand

respondby

dashing hrough

mov-

ing

panorama

of

the New York treets.

ust

n

front

of the audience a six

storey

block was

ablaze.

People appeared

at the

windows

screaming

or

help.

As the firemen

escued he

unfortunates

y

aerial

hooks,

the whole scene

was

enveloped

in

a

fiery glare.

No fire was

used

but he

effect

was

producedby electricity,

steam,stainedglass, celluloid,silkand other

mechanical

ppliances.

The

effectwas

startling

especially

as the

building ollapsed

after the

victimswere removed60.

The

'special

effects' of

these mechanical llu-

sions

did more

han

reproduce eality.

Like

he

spec-

tacular lectrical ffectswitnessed

s

visitors ntered

the Palace of

Electricity,hey

demonstrated

n

a

stunningmannerhepossibilitiesf the new technol-

ogy.

It s

no

wonderthat

projected

motion

pictures

on a flat

screen

might

eem a rather

epid

attraction

next o these

extravanganzas, poor

man's llusion.

At

the same time such illusions

undoubtedly

sed

projections

nd

possibly

some formof motion

pic-

tures

s

part

of their

backstage

echnology.

Perhaps

he most eamless

blending

of

technol-

ogy

and

entertainmentn the Pike ame with

ts

rich

offeringof technologicalvirtual'oyages61.Some

of these

imaginary

modes of world

travel

likely

employed

cinematic

devices,

but

even those which

were

pre-cinematic

n

technology

had a

determinant

influence n the

way

cinema became

popularized

as an attraction fter he

Fair.

Thesevirtual

oyages

also literalize he basic

trope

of the World

Exposi-

tion

itself,

he worldtour

compressed

n

space

and

timeand

rendered

ffortlessor the

tourist,

n

which

the roleof tourist nd

spectator

re

truly

ollapsed.

The effortlesspectatorvoyage had playeda

major

ole

in

the riseof visual

entertainments

arlier

in

the

century

especially

he Dioramaand

pano-

ramawhich

frequentlyortrayed

istant ourist

ites).

It

motivatednot

only

the World

Exposition

s a

whole,

butalso the recreation f

foreign

ands

which

thronged

he

Midway

and the Pike.

But he techno-

logical

virtual

pectator

voyage

formsa

particular

sub-genre

f

great consequence

for

early

cinema.

The

origin

of

the

spectatorvoyage

comes

as well

from ransformationsithin ouristravel tself.Wolf-

gang

Schivelbuschescribes he

growing

comfort f

train ravel

n

which the

upholstered

eat insulated

the

travellerrom he

discomforts f the

journey,

s

the railroad tself

had

delivered hem rom he

physi-

The world

as

object

lesson

435




16/24

436

Tom

Gunning

Fig.

8. New York o

the

NorthPolefromThe

Greatest f

Expositions

Completely

llustrated.

cal effortof travel62.Schivelbuschocates a new

visual

perception

arising

with

train

travel,

'pan-

oramic

perception'

n

which

'the traveller ees the

objects,

andscapes,

etc.

through

he

apparatus

hat

moves him

through

he world'.The ideal of a 'fric-

tionless'63 oyage around the world had been

pushed

to the

point

of

parody

in

1873

by

Jules

Verne

n

hisAround he World

n

EightyDays

whose

impassive

hero Phileas

Fogg

was

described

as

'not

travelling,

but

only describing

a circumference

..

he

was a solid

body traversing

n

orbit

around

the

terrestrial

lobe, according

to the laws of rational

mechanics'64.

Thevirtual

echnological oyages

offered

long

the Pike

reproduced

he

Exposition's

ominant

rope

of the collapseof space, time and distance. One

attraction as called 'New York o the NorthPole

n

Twenty

Minutes' nd

publicity mphasized

hatthe

trip

over the the entire routeof the Trans-Siberian

railway

ook

only forty-five

minutes.But

just

as

im-

portant

s diminished

pace

and time was the se-

duction of effortless

travel,

consumed

primarily

through

he

eyes.

The movement

hrough pace

re-

quired

no effort n the

part

of the

spectator

who sat

impassively ransported,

ike Phileas

Fogg, by

the

power

of

technology.

The

descriptions

f

these at-

tractions

tress

repeatedly

hatthe

passive

visitor s

'carried'

r

'taken'.

Even

he

announcementsf the

Edisonia

a

concession area

holding

hundreds f

coin-operated

ending

machinesand

amusements)

hawked ts travel

ttractionss effortless

(though

ot

gratuitous)

isual

voyages.

Describing

what most

likely

are

peepshow

devices of the

kinetoscope

r

mutoscope

ort,

the

Edisonia's

publicity

nvited isi-

tors o:

... enter

he

worldof

travel,

magineyourself

t

the

top

of

Telegraph

Hill in

San

Francisco,

looking through

he Golden

Gate

upon

the

broad

expanse

of waterwhere

the

light

of

day

reflects ts

departing ays

of brilliant

plendour

upon

the

placid

Pacific,

until

ou

are reminded

thatanother oin

will

take

you

to the

snow clad

peaks

of the

Alps,

the boulevards f

fascinating

Paris,

r

among

the

palm

reesof

the

tropics65.

Thevoyage attractionstressedmagicaltrans-

formations f

landscape

with their

relatively

hort

travel ime as well

as

provid

the world as object lesson

Documents