An interview of Otto Piene conducted 1988 Aug. 4-1990 Feb. 22, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Cambridge, MA.
Piene speaks of his childhood in Westphalia, Germany; his World War II military service; the decision to become an artist; training in Dusseldorf, 1949-1952; the founding of Group Zero with Heinz Mack in Dusseldorf, 1957-1966; visits to the United States in the 1960s and some of his early work and exhibitions; his work as director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT, beginning in 1974; some of his light and Sky Art projects, including Sky Art Conferences; and support for art and technology projects and education in the US and in Europe. Piene also recalls Heinz Mack, Günter Meisner, György Kepes, Howard Wise, Stan VanDerBeek, Charlotte Moorman and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Otto Piene (1928- ) is a painter and art administrator from Cambridge, Mass.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 9 hr., 52 min.
First cassette begins with some distortion, lasting approximately one minute. Side B of cassette 2 was recorded in three parts due to tape defect in original, with no loss of content. Cassette 6 only recorded on side A.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Occupation:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews Search this
Arts administrators -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews Search this
