The theme of my ART EXPLOSION contest this week is circus so I made some art myself, The Psychic. When thinking of the theme I considered all the possible interpretations that people might think of and did some googling to look at circus related images. One of the things I love the most are the vintage style adverts.
Another thing that came up in the searches a lot were the sideshows, and the animal acts which by todays standards are pretty morally reprehensible. I mean, is a monkey happy riding a bike?
Should a mother be throwing knives at her children for entertainment? 0_0
The lives of those featured in the freak shows are nowadays thought of as being pretty tragic, but my understanding is that many of those people featured had no opportunities for employment elsewhere, and were often thrown out by their families. Optimistically it may have been the best chance for them to find friends and companionship.
It's funny how we look back on these times with some disdain, but I can understand how before television or even the internet existed going to the circus and seeing these odd and eccentric people must have been extremely exciting (even though many turned out to be frauds)!
Myrtle Corbin entered the freak show circuit at the age of 13 and was billed as the “Four-Legged Girl from Texas.” Born with two separate pelvises situated side by side, Corbin’s four individual legs made her a very popular “oddity:” She had the ability to move her two inner legs, but they were too weak to sustain her weight or be used for walking.
Corbin’s fame in the circus directly led to several phony four-legged acts popping up in other freak shows worldwide. source:
I look forward to seeing what all the artists will bring to this weeks competition, there are already some really fun entries, and some quite terrifying clowns :p If you want to enter there's still time: ART EXPLOSION:CIRCUS
Gif unrelated but I found this while searching circus stuff and I thought it was pretty cool :D
Julia
