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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Photography and Film in Nineteenth-Century France: Negative Space Performance and Projected Unreality in a Joint Doctoral Program A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Drama and Theatre (Joint Doctoral with UCI) by William Allan Given, Jr. Committee in charge: University of California, San Diego Professor James P. Carmody, chair Professor William N. Bryson Professor Rachel Klein University of California, Irvine Professor Anthony Kubiak Professor Bryan Reynolds 2016 The dissertation of William Allan Given, Jr. is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego University of California, Irvine 2016 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page………………………………………………………………… iii Table of Contents……………………………………………………………… iv List of Images…………………………………………………………………. vi Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………. vii Vita…………………………………………………………………………….. viii Abstract of the Dissertation……………………………………………………. x Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter One - Magic, Technology, and the Cohesion of Reality……………… 12 Robert-Houdin and the Soirées Fantastiques ………………………….. 14 The Display of French Magic in Algeria……………………………….. 17 The Legitimization of Magic as Art through the Scientific…………….. 23 The Rise of the Automaton on the Magic Stage………………………... 25 The Technological and Consumption…………………………………... 30 The Function of the Audience…………………………………………... 33 A New Form of Automatas……………………………………………... 38 Bringing the Supernatural to the Stage…………………………………. 45 Chapter Two - Immortality and the Fracturing of a Unified Reality…………… 51 Beginning a Religion with a Prank……………………………………... 52 The Davenport Brothers and the Danger of Ambiguous Reality……….. 59 Moving from the Parlour and Into the Cabinet…………………………. 74 The Performativity of Early Photography and the Cult of Celebrity…… 84 Chapter Three - The Ability to Free Reality from the Confines of Temporality.. 96 The Function of the Photographic Portrait……………………………… 109 Motion in the Still Photograph………………………………………….. 115 Photography through the Eyes of Degas………………………………… 119 The Mass-Market Portraiture of the CDV………………………………. 131 Chapter Four - The Delusion of Three-Dimensional Reality as Truth……..……. 141 The Character of the Machine..………………………………………….. 148 The Lumières and Color…………………………………………………. 152 The Manipulated Image and Reality……………………………………... 157 Les Trucages de Méliès…………………………………………………... 164 iv Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….. 182 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………… 189 v LIST OF IMAGES Image 1: Barricades de la Commune, avril 71….……………………………….… 7 Image 2: Maskelyne & Cooke in their Unique Entertainment …….………….….. 40 Image 3: Maskelyne and Zoe ………………………………………………….….. 42 Image 4: Ectoplasm coming from the mouth of a medium ……………..………... 55 Image 5: The Davenport brothers in Paris ……...………………………………… 87 Image 6: Mary Todd Lincoln spirit photo by William H. Mumler, c.1872……….. 90 Image 7: View from the Window at Le Gras by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce c.1827. 98 Image 8: Chronophotograph by Etienne-Jules Marey, 1883………………….…... 104 Image 9: Galloping horses by Eadweard Muybridge, 1878………………………. 123 Image 10: Horse Trotting, the Feet Not Touching the Ground by Edgar Degas ….. 123 Image 11: Apotheosis de Degas by Walter Barnes, 1885……………………….…. 129 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge Professor Jim Carmody for his continual support as the chair of my committee. His unwavering commitment to my growth as both a scholar and as an artist and his continuing friendship has been absolutely invaluable. I would also like to acknowledge my committee, Professor Brian Reynolds, Professor Tony Kubiak, Professor Norman Bryson, and Professor Rachel Klein for their guidance, for the opportunities they have given me, and for consistently challenging me intellectually to approach my dissertation from different perspectives. In addition, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Marion Wilson and Dr. Carrie Wastal for providing such a rich and supportive environment for me to develop as an instructor while continuously seeking out new ways to motivate and inspire my students. This dissertation could not have been completed without the gracious support of John Gaughan, Mike Caveney, and Ken Klosterman who allowed me unprecedented access to their collections so I could examine some of the actual magical props, photographs, and automaton that I write about in my dissertation. Finally, I am eternally thankful for the unadulterated support of my family and to Megan who has proven to me that magic does indeed exist. vii VITA 2010 Bachelor of Arts, University of California, San Diego 2010-2016 Teaching Assistant/Associate Instructor, Muir College Writing Program, University of California, San Diego 2016 Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego PUBLICATIONS - WRITING “The Car Plays and Immersive Theatricality.” TheatreForum 48 (2016): 8-9. “Fourth Wall Permeability in Chekhov’s Three Sisters.” TheatreForum 48 (2016): 17- 19. “Lindy Hop, Community, and the Isolation of Appropriation.” Oxford Handbook of Dance and Theatre. Ed. Nadine George. London: Oxford UP, 2015. 729-749. “Reimagining Chekhov’s Lost Work Platonov.” TheatreForum 44 (2014): 46-51. “Allegiance and the Construction of a New American Musical.” TheatreForum 42 (2013): 40-45. “Sarlot & Eyed: Revitalizing Magic with the Carnival of Illusion.” Genii Oct. 2011: 68- 71. “Master Locksmith Ian McColl: Taking Escapes into the 21st Century.” Genii April 2006: 87-89. PUBLICATIONS - PHOTOGRAPHY Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: The Skeleton Caddy." Genii August 2015. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: The Enchanted Silver Floral Vase." Genii May 2015. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: Spirito." Genii April 2015. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: The Enchanted Black Ball and Fairy Rose." Genii March 2015. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: French Ball Grabbers." Genii February 2015. viii Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: Dr. Rhonstein’s ‘The Day-Fly’." Genii January 2015. “Body in Motion.” Cover photograph. American Psychologist December 2014. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: Willmann’s Harlequin." Genii December 2014. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: The French Peacock." Genii November 2014. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: Houdini's Blooming Rosebush and Flower Cone." Genii October 2014. Hurwitt, Robert. "SF Fringe: Artists strut their stuff, from tech to noir to baking." SF Gate 3 September 2013. Gaughan, John. "The Chamber of Secrets: Robert-Houdin's Match Alarm Clock." Genii September 2014. Collins-Hughes, Laura. "Angry Ghosts, Pretty Mushrooms, Temperance Jokes: Fringe Festival Never Met a Topic It Didn't Like." The New York Times 19 August 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: Voisin’s Magic Table.” Genii August 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: Magic Tea Caddy.” Genii July 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: Thayer’s Vanishing and Reappearing Lamps.” Genii June 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: The Coin Casket.” Genii May 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: Klingl Die to Canary Box.” Genii April 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: The Watch and Card Target.” Genii February 2014. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: Bland’s Enchanted Flowers.” Genii December 2013. Gaughan, John. “The Chamber of Secrets: The Card Detecting Duck.” Genii November 2013. ix ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Photography and Film in Nineteenth-Century France: Negative Space Performance and Projected Unreality for the Joint Doctoral Program by William Allan Given, Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in Drama and Theatre (Joint Doctoral with UCI) University of California, San Diego, 2016 University of California, Irvine, 2016 Professor James P. Carmody, Chair Through an examination of the performative work of illusionists, artists, photographers, and filmmakers in the latter half of nineteenth century France, including Robert-Houdin, the Davenport Brothers, Edgar Degas, Auguste and Louis Lumière, and Georges Méliès, I argue for the existence of a negative-space performance that is created solely within the mind of the spectator. Negative-space performance involves the spectators attempting to coalesce all of the various components of a performance, i.e. what they perceive to be taking place on stage, their own previous knowledge about the material, their own belief systems, etc. into a unique form of reality in an effort to subsequently delineate their own identity. x Within this model, there can be no singular reality, but there instead exists a complex multiverse, where new realities are consistently generated as the boundaries between spectator/performer are blurred and as the previous framework of the static and passive photograph is replaced with one of the active construction of reality. Even when perceptions of reality are challenged, as the performers I am examining routinely did, and when a spectator can no longer differentiate between what they perceive to be as
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