Houdini and the Red Suspenders is a 1:50 minute video projection with sound. It begins with an amateur performer studying archival footage of Houdini, once the world’s greatest magician, doing his straightjacket escape of 1923. As the performer watches Houdini, he begins to perform his own escape act that quickly goes awry. Suspended in an absurd situation from which he can’t escape, his failed attempts get repeated over and over while Houdini continuously repeats his escape successfully. The sound component is a recorded piano accompaniment used in silent films of the era.

JOAN KAUFMAN, HOUDINI AND THE RED SUSPENDERS, 2009
1:53 minutes, continuous loop, digital video projection, sound dimensions variable