An interview of Peter Hutchinson conducted 1967 July 27, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art.
Hutchinson speaks of his childhood and early education in the English countryside; his subsequent time spent in the army; his decision to move to the states and attend college in Illinois; his artistic destiny realized during his first year in college; his seven year experience working his way through college; his time spent in Italy in the early 60's; his early mathematic, Nevelson-like wood works; his relationship to the Jack Daniels Gallery and the "nucleus of thought" consisting of Sol LeWitt , Robert Smithson, Tadaaki Kuwayama; his feelings as to the blurred line between art and writing; the stimulation process involved in all art forms; his creative process consisting primarily of thought; his progression from construction, to painting, to painting on shaped canvas and wood; the requisite direct relationship between art and the artist; his position on the contemporary debate over the supremacy of painting or sculpture; his prediction that Judd and Morris are painting themselves into a corner; the importance of artistic dialogue; the possibility of a redefinition of humanism; his interest in Science Fiction and his recent publication of "Is there Life on Earth;" the importance of "thinking in reverse;" his decision in recent years to replace personal references with personal shapes; his opposition to the term creativity; his similar position to McLuhan with his belief in every man as an artist; his foresight of an eventual "devaluation of monetary attainment;" and his belief that art (self-expression) will always exist in one form or another. Hutchinson discusses his work and its development, and he comments upon the aesthetic climate of the day. He discourses on science fiction.
Biographical / Historical:
Peter A. Hutchinson (1930- ) is a sculptor from Provincetown, Mass.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
