ABSTRACT
Kiesler had arrived in New York in 1926 as the designer and curator of the "International Theater Exposition", an important exhibition of avant-garde theatrical design at New York's Steinway Building. Hoping to capitalize on his commission, Kiesler spent much of 1928 and 1929 writing a book on retail display design, The Modern Show Window and Storefront. Kiesler articulated a pseudo-scientific system for display design that would have predictable psychological effects on potential buyers. His characterization of shoppers as an audience acknowledged that the recent media of radio and film had irrevocably dislocated his former area of expertise - the stage theater - from a position of dominance in American cultural life.
