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Exhibition Reviews
"A.K.A. Houdini." Outagamie County Historical Society, 330 E. College Ave., Appleton, WI 54911.
Permanent exhibition, opened June 4, 2004. Tu–Sa 10–4, Su 12–4. Adults $5, seniors and students $4, children 4–17 $2.50, 3 and under free. 3,500 sq. ft. Matthew Carpenter, chair of exhibit team; Kimberly Louagie, exhibit curator.
Internet: virtual exhibition, calendar of events and exhibits <http://www.-foxvalleyhistory.org> (Sept. 16, 2005).
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| Harry Houdini is a historical icon, one of those rare figures in American cultural history that transcend their eras. His unrivaled feats of physical bravery and athleticism, deception and illusion, revolutionized the public perception of the magician. His life is legend, his accomplishments amazing, and his legacy one that continues to be debated. One particularly vitriolic debate centers on a relatively new museum exhibition in Houdini's adopted hometown, Appleton, Wisconsin, and its revelation of the secret of the metamorphosis, one of Houdini's more famous illusions—in which the magician was handcuffed, put in a sack, and locked in a trunk but reappeared, free, to display his assistant handcuffed in a sack inside the trunk—to the highly publicized chagrin of many professional magicians. |
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The current exhibition, "A.K.A. Houdini," which opened June 4, 2004, replaced a fifteen-year-long artifact-based Houdini exhibit at the Outagamie County Historical Society. Responding to visitor comments and requests, pressure from a financially onerous lease of Houdini materials, and a desire to place Houdini in the context of the twentieth century, the society created an interactive exhibition that aimed to educate and entertain. |
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The exhibit is grounded in the theme of shifting identities—the claiming of a small Wisconsin town as birthplace and hometown by a Hungarian Jew (Ehrich Weiss, a.k.a. Houdini) who was actually born in Budapest; the ensuing changing of identities through time as Houdini moved from marginal sideshow act to world-famous illusionist; the shifting of the world around Houdini at the turn of the twentieth century and his role in offering his life as a metaphor for the cultural confusion of the time; and the enshrining of Houdini as historical icon. That final identity is currently fomenting a national debate around the "A.K.A. Houdini" exhibit and inspiring language of messianism, sacrality, heresy, and hatred. The official thesis of the exhibition clarifies the theme of shifting identities: "Houdini's genius lay in his ability to assume identities that placed him on the cutting edge of a changing world." My guide to the exhibition was Matthew Carpenter, director of interpretive programs and curator of collections for the Outagamie County Historical Society, who believes that Houdini offered more than entertainment to early twentieth-century America. Houdini's illusions suggested to the audience that they could "escape the shackles of life" no matter how great the odds. |
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The physical layout of the exhibit features panels with concise text, interactive opportunities for visitors, a modest selection of Houdini artifacts, and very attractive plasma video monitors displaying newspaper headlines designed to recall Houdini's cultural impact and scenes from his life and times. The exhibition is split between two large rooms and one smaller space. The visitor first encounters a casket framed by two video screens with an overview of Houdini's life and death, then moves to panels exploring Houdini's connection to Appleton. This circular first room establishes Houdini's family history and relationships, his early life as a sideshow attraction, and the roots of his later self-proclaimed identity as an "escapeologist." The panels contain information aimed at adults as well as questions oriented to children, both designed to engage the visitor in conversation rather than simply to present information. The language utilized for the displays is very consciously chosen to appeal to multiple constituencies, and the display includes facts about Houdini along with questions and ideas couched in both straightforward and irreverent styles. One clear example of an appeal to children (and perhaps some not-so-grownups) is a paragraph explaining that Houdini escaped from jail cells using multiple strategies, stating that in some cases Houdini "swallowed tools then later puked them up." |
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