The collection featured on this site is organized around core themes of pain and performance, as they are deployed across four categories common to circus “freak shows”: swords and sword swallowing, needles and nails, extreme strength, and performers inflicting pain on another. In each case, the performers’ ability to complete these feats inspires an awe that may override sympathy. The viewer’s initial wince is assuaged by the performers’ stoic expressions or winning smiles, betraying no trace of pain. Otherwise, their faces are obscured, or their bodies are upstaged by elaborate sets and costumes. Their incredible strength or their tolerance for pain renders them superhuman, and thus other than human. While circus freak shows often featured performers and bodies that were visibly physically disabled, we call the subjects of this collection “overly-abled,” in order to highlight their difference but still call attention to the similar ways in which they are dehumanized.
