Loie Fuller, the Magician of Light
Exhibition Design
2021 Spring
Professor Dorian Juncewicz
Providence, RI
The celebrated dancer and theatrician Loie Fuller of the fin de siècle era is often remembered for her abstract and experimental performances. However, her work is often reduced to a mere display of invention and her gendered modern subjectivity and emotional expressions are overlooked.
This exhibition aims to provide a new perspective on Loie's life story and powerful offstage self, as well as to shed light on her often neglected emotional and personal aspects. Through the utilization of her own theatric techniques, the exhibition guides visitors into a re-imagined inner world of Loie, offering a comprehensive understanding of her work and its significance in the history of art and performance.
the first phase of the project is to design an artifact for Loie Fuller and it inspired me to do an exhibition that tells a multi facet story about her
Double height multi media theatre adjacent to gallery space
Intimate, focus experience with works
Position live art in the broader narratives of art history
(03.a) An entrance showing how Loie Fuller was celebrated and represented as legendary dancer
(03.b) A personal album, revolbing around people in her life: family, sponsor, and rumored lesbian lover... A place where the visitior can always come back and take in.
(03.c) In 1892, Loie Fuller packed her theater costumes into a trunk and, with her elderly mother in tow, left the United States and a mid-level vaudeville career to try her luck in Paris.
(03.d) Showcasing her theatrical innovations, such as how her silk dress was made with concealed rods, her dancing and lighting techniques and sketches of her stagecraft that she had patented herself.
(03.e) Vanishing under her voluminous beguiling dress, Loie Fuller has a stout and seemingly ungraceful appearance judged by the contemporaries.
(03.f) Fire dance has a furious, raging and intense emotion quality. It is the climax in the exhibition.
(03.g) The peaceful ending part is Loie Fuller's La Mer (The Sea) - hundreds of square feet of silk mimicking the lapping waters of the sea, originally a visualization of Debussy's music.
(03.b) A personal album, revolbing around people in her life: family, sponsor, and rumored lesbian lover... A place where the visitior can always come back and take in.
(03.c) In 1892, Loie Fuller packed her theater costumes into a trunk and, with her elderly mother in tow, left the United States and a mid-level vaudeville career to try her luck in Paris.
(03.d) Showcasing her theatrical innovations, such as how her silk dress was made with concealed rods, her dancing and lighting techniques and sketches of her stagecraft that she had patented herself.
(03.e) Vanishing under her voluminous beguiling dress, Loie Fuller has a stout and seemingly ungraceful appearance judged by the contemporaries.
(03.f) Fire dance has a furious, raging and intense emotion quality. It is the climax in the exhibition.
(03.g) The peaceful ending part is Loie Fuller's La Mer (The Sea) - hundreds of square feet of silk mimicking the lapping waters of the sea, originally a visualization of Debussy's music.
(04) final model + plan drawing
The design consists of an exhibition area that adjoins a theater space. The exhibition is intended to be like flipping through a storybook and leads into an immersive experience within the theater.
(05.a)
Starts with the entrance imitating the facade from Loie Fuller Theatre in Paris Expo 1900, this space shows how Loie was celebrated with artworks and posters representations.
Starts with the entrance imitating the facade from Loie Fuller Theatre in Paris Expo 1900, this space shows how Loie was celebrated with artworks and posters representations.
(05.b)
A trilogy telling Loie Fuller's lifestory from childhood to her dancing career. The rooms are guided by her colored lighting technique.
A trilogy telling Loie Fuller's lifestory from childhood to her dancing career. The rooms are guided by her colored lighting technique.
(05.c)
Showcase of Loie Fuller's stagecraft techniques after the visitor have experienced them in previous sections
Showcase of Loie Fuller's stagecraft techniques after the visitor have experienced them in previous sections
(05.d)
People in Fuller’s life:
Isadora Duncan
Marie Curie
Her mother
Gabrielle Bloch
People in Fuller’s life:
Isadora Duncan
Marie Curie
Her mother
Gabrielle Bloch
(08) model of the exhibition gallery
(07) theatre part extends Loie Fuller’s stagecraft into an immersive experience
