An interview of Alison Knowles conducted 2010 June 1-2, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project, at Knowles' home and studio, in New York, N.Y.
Knowles speaks of her family background; her father's (an English professor) influence on her education; her love of nature and isolation as a young girl; her French studies at Middlebury College; her transfer to Pratt Institute to study art; the social and academic environment at Pratt; her inclinations towards abstraction; her first marriage to Jim Ericson; her first studio at 423 Broadway; her early jobs as a commercial artist; her first gallery show at Nonagon, in 1958, and how she subsequently burned the paintings in that show; her second marriage to Dick Higgins in 1960; her Judson Gallery Show in 1962 and how she subsequently discarded those works; her involvement in the Fluxus group; her involvement with the "Cage class," and its early performances; her collaboration with John Cage on the book, "Notations" (1968); her collaboration with Marcel Duchamp on a print (1967); the circumstances surrounding her performance piece, "Make a Salad" (1962), her travels through Europe with Higgins; the birth of her twins; her computerized poetic piece and installation, "House of Dust" (1967) and how it was later vandalized; her move to Los Angeles to teach at CalArts; the rebuilding of "House of Dust" at CalArts; her move back to New York; the processes leading up to several projects and collaborations including "Loose Pages," "Big Book," "Bread and Water," and more; where she finds her inspiration; her thoughts on performance art; her studio environment in Barrytown, N.Y.; the influence and support of Germany on her work and Fluxus in general; her recent work, including "Identical Lunch"; and current challenges she faces as an artist.
She recalls Richard Lindner, Adolph Gottlieb, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Judy Chicago, Josef Albers, Dorothy Podber, Ray Johnson, Dick Higgins, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Klaus Schöning, Jon Hendricks, Gilbert Silverman, George Maciunas, George Brecht, Jack Mac Low, Yoko Ono, Mieko Shiomi, Takako Saito, Joe Jones, Marcel Duchamp, Daniel Spoerri, Richard Hamilton, Nam June Paik, Charlotte Moorman, Helmut Becker, Coco Gordon, Jim Tenney, Cornelia Lauf, Rirkrit Tirvanija, Allan Kaprow, Simone Forte, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Teitelbaum, Miriam Schapiro, Miguel Abrau, James Fuentes, Cyrilla Wozenter, Kathy Kuehn, Ryszard Wasko.
Biographical / Historical:
Alison Knowles (1933- ) is an artist and a founding member of Fluxus in New York, N.Y. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is a former director of iCI in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 mini discs. Duration is 5 hr., 45 min.
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.
Occupation:
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interview of Al Hansen conducted 1973 November 6-13, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Hansen traces his personal history, recalling his childhood and early education in Queens; his service in the armed forces; and jobs he held in social work, advertising, off-Broadway theater, and art galleries. He describes taking classes with John Groth at the Art Students League in the 1940s; with Reuben Nakian at Pratt in the 1950s; and with John Cage at the New School in 1958. He also discusses the rise of New York as an art center; his interest in film; his involvement in experimental sound and music; his approach to creating Happenings and that of other artists; organizing poetry readings at the Epitome Coffee Shop; his Hershey bar wrapper collages; the writing of his book, "A Primer of Happenings and Space Time Art," (New York: Something Else Press 1965); his interactions with Fluxus and George Maciunas; participating in the "Below Zero" show at the Reuben Gallery in 1959; attending the Destruction In Art symposium in London in 1966; and his recent exhibitions in Germany. People he recalls include Tony Smith; Pauline Goldfine [ph]; Dick Higgins; Wolf Vostell; Larry Poons; Allan Kaprow; Claes Oldenburg; Don McCarey [ph]; Jim Dine; George Brecht; Jackson Mac Low; James Waring; Marisol Escobar; Ivan Karp; Bob Watts; George Segal; Judith Dunn; Bob Dunn; Jan Müller; Nam June Paik; Raphael Ortiz; Charlotte Moorman; and Lettie Lou Eisenhauer.
Biographical / Historical:
Al Hansen (1927-1995) was an artist from New York, New York. Founder of Fluxus art movement and one of the first Happenings artists.
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.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
The papers of multimedia and computer artist Fred Truck measure 15.4 linear feet and date from 1960-2019. Records include biographical material, correspondence including mail art, writings by Truck, project files, rare printed material including artist books and small press publications, artwork, and sound and video recordings. Additionally, a substantial portion of the collection is in electronic format, including Truck's hard drive and software programs developed by him.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of multimedia and computer artist Fred Truck measure 15.4 linear feet and date from 1960-2019. Records include biographical material, correspondence including mail art, writings by Truck, project files, rare printed material including artist books and small press publications, artwork, and sound and video recordings. Additionally, a substantial portion of the collection is in electronic format, including Truck's hard drive and software programs developed by him.
Correspondence and mail art documents Truck's involvement with the mail art network throughout his career and includes letters and mail art from artists including Anna Banana, Michael Gibbs, John Held Jr., Jürgen Olbrich, Lon Spiegelman, Chuck Stake, Chuck Welch, and many others. Also found here is a substantial group of letters from Jean Brown to Truck in which Brown comments on Truck's work, her connections with other artists, and her collecting activities focusing on Fluxus and the avant-garde, for the Jean Brown Archives.
Writings include early short stories, a play, and published articles and artist statements by Truck.
Truck's project files touch on all aspects of his career, including his making of artist books, his involvement in early and developing computer art and software, and his forays into virtual reality. Files also record his involvement in collaborative works of early electronic art including his significant contributions to the Art Com Electronic Network (ACEN), and his collaborations in performance art including The Des Moines Festival of the Avant-Garde, the Electric Bank, and the Performance Bank. Records include motion picture film of events that took place during the Des Moines Festival of the Avant Garde.
Exhibition files document six exhibitions including the group exhibition Almost Warm and Fuzzy (1999), at the Des Moines Art Center, and Here and There: Photography as a Cross-Cultural Mirror (2007), with Mano Tohei in Japan. Other professional activities are documented in files covering Truck's attendance and presentations at conferences and symposiums, on panels, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts where he undertook a residency in 1991. This series and Truck's personal business records also include scattered documentation of consignments, sales, and exhibitions with Vail Giesler/Steven Vail Galleries, and Karolyn Sherwood Gallery.
Printed material includes coverage of Truck's career in press reviews of his work and copies of two of his books, Around the House and The Hot Rod Show. The series also houses Truck's significant collection of rare artist books, artist publications, and small press publications. Additionally, Truck's printed material includes announcements, catalogs, newsletters, postcards, and other printed material for art events, literary press events, and mail art events primarily from the 1970s-1990s, including a substantial group of material from Franklin Furnace.
Artwork by Truck includes digital artwork and Fred Truck's print collection. Photographs include Truck's index to his digital photographs, some of his fine art photographic prints, and a series of snapshots taken of Truck and others on the occasion of La Mamelle Inc./Art Com's donation of its records to Stanford University.
Unprocessed born digital material appears to document Truck's research and practice in computer technology and art over several decades, including the online activities of ACEN. Additional born digital records include programs and software such as Truck's ArtEngine and Bottega.
Arrangement:
With the exception of some unsorted material, papers were generally organized alphabetically across projects, institutions, and individuals by Fred and Lorna Truck before donation to the Archives. Notes on Truck's career and an inventory of the sorted material providing folder labels and broad series types was included with the donation and both were used extensively during arrangement and description of the material. Series were further refined to facilitate access and merged with unsorted material. The collection was arranged as 10 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1980s-2017 (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence and Mail Art, 1974-2017 (Boxes 1-4; 3.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings by Truck, circa 1960s-circa 2000s (Box 4; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 4: Project Files, circa 1960s-2017 (Boxes 4-7, 14, FC 15-16; 4.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1988-2007 (Boxes 8-9; 0.25 linear feet)
Series 6: Other Professional Files, 1988-2001 (Box 9; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1960s-2006 (Box 9; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed Material and Artist Books, 1960-2017 (Boxes 9-13; 3.2 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork by Truck, circa 1990s-circa 2000s (Box 13; 0.15 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, 1980s-2019 (Box 13; 0.15 linear feet)
Series 11: Unprocessed Born Digital Material, circa 1970s-circa 2019 (Boxes 18-20; 2.5 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
West Des Moines, Iowa, multimedia and computer artist Fred Truck (b. 1946) played a pivotal role in the burgeoning computer art world of the 1970s, was an early and vital participant in the Art Com Electronic Network (ACEN; 1986–1999), one of the first virtual artist communities, and has been active in the mail art network throughout his career. Truck is a sculptor, a photographer, and a creator of artist books, software, and virtual reality artwork.
Born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Truck graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1969 with a B.A. and then briefly attended American University in Washington, D.C.. From the mid-1970s to mid-1980s he worked in the printing trade and attended printing school in Ankeny, Iowa, where he was able to print the books he had been writing and making. His work included the offset book Camping Out (1975), and George Maciunas, Fluxus and the Face of Time (1984), in which which used his own Jean Brown Ultrabold typeface.
Truck was a co-founder and systems engineer for the Art Com Electronic Network (ACEN), an artist-built virtual social network established in the early internet era before the development of web-based graphics through which artists communicated and performed in text-based graphics. Truck established a menu-driven structure that would allow easy access to ACEN content invented collectively by Truck and co-founders Carl Loeffler and Anna Couey.
In the late 1980s to 1990s Truck developed ArtEngine, a stand-alone software application applying artificial intelligence to graphics, text analysis, and design. His software Bottega was an interactive CD-ROM developed for the Macintosh which allowed users to explore a digital artist's workshop and also introduced users to Analog Engine, a steam-powered visual analog of his ArtEngine software.
Truck is also known for his work with virtual reality and in 1993, with the assistance of programmers, built Labyrinth, a flight simulator based on Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine. The project took place at Carnegie Mellon University under the supervision of Carl Loeffler.
In 1998 Truck created the fictitious Badge of Quality Corporation with Mr. Milk Bottle as it's public representative and himself as president and CEO of the corporation. In 2007 he was commissioned to build a 62" tall steel sculpture of Mr. Milk Bottle dissolving into nature.
Truck became interested in digital photography in 2005 and joined Flickr in 2009, where he continues to post his photographs. Truck is a pioneer in the use of stereographic projections and anaglyph images and describes his work as using digital processing to move his 2-D images into "a 3-D arena via anaglyph techniques, stereograms or 360 720 panoramas."
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2020, 2021, and 2022 by Fred Truck.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Computer artists -- Iowa -- Des Moines Search this
Multimedia artists -- Iowa -- Des Moines Search this
The archive is comprised of the papers of the artist (his writings, notes, scores, plans and designs, photographs and assorted print ephemera), his library (books, magazines, trade catalogs, etc.), as well as three dimensional artifacts from his studio (objects, toys, televisions, radios, the artist's desk, etc.) and over 200 videotapes (the artist's single-channel videotapes, installation videotapes, and videotape records of performances and interviews).
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Nam June Paik measure approximately 55 linear feet and date from 1832 to 2008, with the bulk of materials dating from 1960 to 2000. The papers document the artist's global career in video and multimedia art. The collection includes the artist's early writings on art, history and technology, performance scores, production notes for videotape and television products, plans for video installations, and documentation of large-scale television projects such as Guadalcanal Requiem (1977/79) and The More the Better (1988).
Letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes and notes from friends and business associates reflect Paik's association with a wide international circle of artists, including many of those associated with Fluxus. Biographical materials include vintage photographs, an early affidavit of support from Jonas Mekas for Paik's temporary entry into the United States and the transcript of a 1977 interview conducted by Dick Higgins.
Additional materials that provide insight into Paik's career include documentation of early Fluxus performances both before and after Paik's move to New York City in 1964 and printed announcements and programs for exhibitions, festivals, and performances.
Also included in the papers are over 400 books and magazines.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into fourteen series:
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1957-1999 (Box 1; 10 folders; .20 linear feet)
Series 2. Correspondence, 1959-2002 (Boxes 1-4 and oversize box 51; 74 folders, 1.5 linear feet)
Series 3. Financial and Legal Records,1965-2002 (Boxes 5-6; 27 folders; .8 linear feet)
Series 4. Project Files, ca. 1965-1998 (Boxes 7-10 and oversize boxes 52-53, 66 folders; 2 linear feet)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1974-2002 (Box 10 and oversize box 53; 19 folders; .3 linear feet)
Series 6: Notes and Writings, ca. 1960-2000 (Boxes 11-15 and oversize box 54; 112 folders; 2.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Sketchbooks and Sketches, 1974-1979 and undated (Box 16 and oversize box 54; 9 folders; .1 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, ca. 1940-2001 (Boxes 16-17 and oversize boxes 55 and 57; 36 folders; .9 linear feet)
Series 9: Artifacts and Ephemera, ca. 1960-2000 (Box 18 and oversize box 55; 17 folders; .5 linear feet)
Series 10: Printed Materials, 1832-2004 (Boxes 19-25 and oversize boxes 56-63; 121 folders; 10 linear feet)
Series 11: Books, 1839-2003 (Boxes 25-40 and oversize box 66; 17 linear feet)
Series 12: Magazines and Newsletters, ca. 1900-2000 (Boxes 41-46; 6 linear feet)
Series 13: Product Manuals, Trade Catalogs and Directories, ca. 1970-2000 (Boxes 47-50; 4 linear feet)
Series 14: Newspapers, 1867-2008 (Oversize boxes 62-65; 9.5 linear feet)
Biographical note:
Nam June Paik (1932-2006), internationally recognized as the "Father of Video Art," created a large body of work, including video sculptures, installations, performances, videotapes and television productions. His art and ideas embodied a radical new vision for an art form that changed global visual culture.
Born in 1932 in Seoul, Korea, to a wealthy industrial family, Paik and his family fled Korea in 1950 at the outset of the Korean War, first to Hong Kong, then to Japan. Paik graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1956, and then traveled to Germany to pursue his interest in avant-garde music, composition and performance. There he met John Cage and George Maciunas and became a member of the neo-dada Fluxus movement. In 1963, Paik had his legendary one-artist exhibition at the Galerie Parnass in Wuppertal, Germany, that featured his prepared television sets, which radically altered the look and content of television.
After immigrating to the United States in 1964, he settled in New York City, where he expanded his engagement with video and television, and had exhibitions of his work at the New School, Galerie Bonino, and the Howard Wise Gallery. In 1965, Paik was one of the first artists to use a portable video camcorder. In 1969, he worked with Japanese engineer Shuya Abe to construct an early video-synthesizer that allowed Paik to combine and manipulate images from different sources. The Paik-Abe video synthesizer transformed electronic moving-image making. Paik invented a new artistic medium with television and video, creating an astonishing array of artworks, from his seminal video Global Groove (1973), to his sculptures TV Buddha (1974) and TV Cello (1971); to installations such as TV Garden (1974), Video Fish (1975) and Fin de Siecle II (1989); videotapes Living with Living Theatre (1989) and Guadalcanal Requiem (1977/1979); and global satellite television productions such as Good Morning Mr. Orwell, which broadcast from the Centre Pompidou in Paris and a WNET-TV studio in New York City January 1, 1984.
Paik has been the subject of numerous exhibitions, including the major retrospectives: Nam June Paik, organized by Tate Liverpool and museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf (2011); The Worlds of Nam June Paik organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City (2000); and Nam June Paik, organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art (1982). He has been featured in major international art exhibitions including Documenta, the Venice Biennale, and the Whitney Biennial.
Provenance:
In 2009, the Nam June Paik archive was received as a gift from the Nam June Paik estate.
Restrictions:
Access to the archive requires an advance appointment. Please contact Paik Archive staff by email at PaikArchive@si.edu.
Rights:
Unpublished materials are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
The Samuel J. Wagstaff papers, circa 1932-1985 comprise 6.4 linear feet of correspondence, writings, miscellaneous records, printed material, and photographs documenting Wagstaff's professional and personal relationships with artists and photographers, his career as an art curator, and his position as an important collector of paintings and photographs. Correspondence with artists and others such as curators, arts organizations, galleries, and museums, reflects the diversity of contemporary American art and includes individuals associated with the abstract expressionist, Fluxus, pop, earth, conceptual, and minimalist art movements.
Scope and Content Note:
The Samuel J. Wagstaff papers, circa 1932-1985, comprise 6.4 linear feet of correspondence, writings, miscellaneous records, printed material, and photographs documenting Wagstaff's professional and personal relationships with artists and photographers, his career as an art curator, and his position as an important collector of paintings and photographs.
Correspondence with artists and others such as curators, arts organizations, galleries, and museums reflects the diversity of contemporary American art and includes individuals associated with the abstract expressionist, Fluxus, pop, earth, conceptual, and minimalist art movements. Wagstaff's importance as a collector and curator and his generosity to and interest in artists is evident from the large number of invitations to view and critique work, requests for fellowship and grant recommendations, and thank you notes from artists to whom he extended financial or moral support. Among the most prolific correspondents found here are: Dan Basen, George Brecht, James Lee Byars, Walter de Maria, Mark Di Suvero, Albert Fine, Dan Flavin, Ann Halprin, Grace Hartigan, Charles James, Philip Johnson, Ray Johnson, Doreen and Robert Manning, Agnes Martin, Gordon Newton, Claes Oldenburg, Ad Reinhardt, Dieter Rot, Alan Saret, Richard Tuttle, May Wilson, and Andy Warhol.
Writings by Wagstaff consist of "Looking at Modern Art" prepared for the Trinity College Reading Program, and an untitled, undated piece about multiplicity in art. Among the writings by other authors are Bruce Bennard's "The Photographer Rediscovered," "Pop Art" by Henry Geldzahler, and "Collecting Photographs" by Bonnie Barrett Stretch.
Miscellaneous records are drawings by Bruce Kleinsmith, a print by Harold Paris and artists' resumes. Also included is a costume consisting of a stuffed devil's tail and two red silk caps connected by a long sash, all in a matching red silk bag.
Among the printed material are books, exhibition catalogs and prospectuses, periodicals, press releases, reproductions, and a variety of other printed items relating to photography and art.
Photographs consist largely of copy prints and a small number of original prints. Also included are a few images of exhibition installations and other miscellaneous subjects. There are no portraits of Samuel J. Wagstaff among the photographs of people. Identified individuals include: Bella Abzug, Peter Allen, Michael Collins, Angela Davis, Candy Darling, Wendell Ford, Joseph Hirshhorn, W. A. Huffman, David Love, Marc Miller, Bettie Ringma, and Andy Warhol.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1932-1986 (Boxes 1-3, 8, OV 9-10; 2.5 linear ft.)
Series 2: Writings, 1961-1983 (Box 3; 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 3: Miscellaneous Papers and Artifacts, 1970s-1980s (Box 3; 0.2 linear ft.)
Series 4: Printed Material, circa 1914-1988 (Boxes 3-8, OV 11; 3.2 linear ft.)
Series 5: Photographs, 1975-1982 (Boxes 7-8; 0.1 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Samuel J. Wagstaff, Jr. (1921-1987), the son of a lawyer from an old New York family and fashion artist Olga Piorkowska, was born in New York City. A graduate of Yale University, he was an ensign in the Navy and took part in the D-day landing at Omaha Beach.
Following World War II, Wagstaff studied Renaissance art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A David E. Finley art history fellowship took him to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. in 1959. He served as curator of contemporary art at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., from 1961 to 1968, where he coordinated sculptor Tony Smith's first museum show in 1966. In 1971, during Wagstaff's tenure as curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts (1968-1971), he presented Michael Heizer's installation Dragged Mass Geometric on the grounds of the museum.
In addition to his curatorial work, Samuel J. Wagstaff was a noted collector. Originally, he was a fairly influential collector of avant-garde paintings. After seeing the exhibition "The Painterly Photograph" and meeting photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, Wagstaff became convinced that photographs were the most unrecognized and, possibly, the most valuable works of art. He moved to New York and began selling his collection of paintings, using the proceeds to begin his photography collection and concentrating on 19th century American, British, and French examples. Then, influenced by his lover, photographer Mapplethorpe, Wagstaff's taste veered toward the daring, and he began to depart from established names in search of new talent. His collection was soon recognized as one of the finest private holdings in the United States. An exhibition of his photographs was organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., in 1978, and A Book of Photographs from the Sam Wagstaff Collection was published to accompany the show that toured the country.
The photograph collection was sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, Calif., in 1984, for a reported $5 million. Wagstaff then focused his attention on collecting 19th century American silver, and a selection from that collection was exhibited at the New York Historical Society in 1987.
Samuel J. Wagstaff died in New York City on January 14, 1987, from pneumonia, a complication of HIV infection.
Provenance:
Samuel J. Wagstaff donated his papers between 1976 and 1986.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Transcripts of interviews conducted by Michel Oren of printmaker Dick Higgins, and painters Gordon Onslow Ford, Ed Ruda and William T. Williams.
The Higgins interview (11 p.), done by telephone Sept. 30. 1979, relates to his association with the collaborative art group Fluxus during the 1960s. Onslow-Ford (32 p.), interviewed at his home in Inverness, Calif., Dec. 23, 1991, discusses his Surrealist circle in New York and living in Mexico. Williams (33 p.), interviewed in New York, Mar. 11, 1988, recalls his association with the collaborative art group Smokehouse, which included Williams, Guy Ciarcia, Billy Rose and Mel Edwards, ca. 1968-1970. Ruda (15 p.), interviewed in his New York studio March 11, 1988, discusses the artists' cooperative Park Place in New York, N.Y. (1963-1967), minimalism, and recalls artists Peter Forakis, Tony Magar, Frank Stella, Leo Vallador, Mark DiSuvero, Forrest Myers, David Novros, David Bourdon, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Oren conducted the interviews for research material on his planned book concerning artists' groups.
Related Materials:
Oren (Michel) collection of Marxist Literary Group recordings are located in UC Irvine Critical Theory Archive.
Provenance:
Donated 1988-1992 by Michel Oren.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Onslow-Ford interview: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Gordon Onslow-Ford. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
An interview with Geoffrey Hendricks conducted 2016 August 17-18, by Linda Yablonsky, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Hendricks' home in New York, New York.
Hendricks speaks of his childhood in New England and Chicago; his art education at Amherst College, Cooper Union, Yale's summer arts school, and Columbia University; his teaching career at Douglass College and Rutgers University; his affiliation and body of artwork with Fluxus; his first marriage and divorce to Nye Ffarrabas (née Beatrice Forbes); his partner Brian Buczak; involvement with Visual AIDS, Day Without Art, and other activist efforts; his relationship with Sur Rodney (Sur); his work to help HIV-positive artists plan their estates; his body of work and exhibitions as a solo artist; changes he has observed in the art world; and his hopes for his artistic legacy. Hendricks also recalls Philip Corner, Theodore Brenson, Rudolph Wittkower, Allan Kaprow, Bob Watts, George Brecht, Robert Filliou, George Maciunas, Peter Moore, Alison Knowles, Yoshi Wada, Peter van Riper, Bill Olander, Al Hansen, Francesco Conz, William Pope.L, Hermann Nitsch, Jill Johnston, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Geoffrey Hendricks (1931-2018) was an artist in New York, New York, associated with Fluxus. Hendricks was also professor emeritus at the Mason School for the Arts at Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Linda Yablonsky (1948- ) is a writer in New York, New York.
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.
An interview of Geoffrey Hendricks conducted 2009 May 15-19, by Kathy Goncharov, for the Archives of American Art, at Hendricks' home and studio, in New York, N.Y.
Biographical / Historical:
Geoffrey Hendricks (1931- 2018) was a Fluxus artist in New York, N.Y. Hendricks taught at Rutgers University for 47 years. Hendricks lived and worked in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 2 min.
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.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. This interview is publication restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for the purposes of publication requires written permission from Sur Rodney Sur. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Barbara Bloom conducted 2012 October-2013 January 31, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Bloom's home and studio, in New York, New York.
Bloom speaks of growing up in Brentwood, California; her first experience with art; her childhood and exposure to creativity; the influence of art and philosophy; going to museums as a kid; living in Monte Factor and then Los Angeles; her creative process, influences, and life as an artist; art mentors and art lessons with Cathy Herman; traveling with her family; her mom being an actress; attending Bennington College in Vermont, the 1960s, the and collage aesthetic; attending CalArt; the changes in art education at the university level; drugs use; Fluxus; John Cage and attending 4'33; living in Europe and specifically Netherlands, Germany, and Holland; books and love of reading; her daughter; the post-studio era; film and meta-movies; making "The Diamond Lane;" images and objects' connection to meanings; The Gaze; undressing the wall; Homage to Jean Seberg, Godard, Berlin; East Germany; being agnostic and Jewish; Venice Biennale; collectors; cycle of shows; MFA programs; The Tip of the Iceberg; surgeries; hospital visit, personal training, and recovery; The Seven Deadly Sins; her father; Tellus Magazine; Judaism; fabrications and drawings; archives; relationship between the artist and the viewer; her husband; 010011.net; recent show; and As It Were, So To Speak. Bloom also recalls Monte and Betty Factor, Ed Kienholz, Ron Kappe, Robbie Robe, Ray Kappe, Matt Mullican, Eric Orr, Robert Irwin, Doug Wheeler, Total: digital recordings; Claire Steinman, Rosemarie Trockel, Ash Grove, James Lee Byars, Frances Rey, Sidney Tillim, Norman O. Brown, Paul Cotton, Paul Brock, Buckminster Fuller, John Baldessari, Nam June Paik, Dick Higgins, Alison Knowles, Serge Tcherepnin, Simone Forte, Charlemagne Palestine, La Monte Young, David Salle, Eric Fischl, Marcel Broodthaers, Susan Sontag, Tim Maul, Caroline Tisdale, Marcel Duchamp, Laura Mulvey, John Berger, Oscar Wilde, Ed Ruscha, Isabella Kacprzak, Octavio Paz, Leo Castelli, Allen Ruppersberg, Jay Gorney, Claudia Gould, Susan Bronstein, Donald Judd, Robert DuGrenier, Pistoletto, Anthony Coleman, Mel Bochner, and Ken Saylor.
Biographical / Historical:
Barbara Bloom (1951- ) is a photographer, designer, and installation artist in New York, New York. James McElhinney (1952- ) is an artist and professor in New York, New York.
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.
Occupation:
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Higgins' publications (1958-1997) in various magazines and small press publications, together with original manuscripts and related correspondence with other artists, publishers, and scholars, as well as books, Modular Poems (1974), Legends and Fishnets (1976), Some Recent Snowflakes (1979), Variations on a Natural Theme for Orchestra (1982), and Essays on Intermedia (1977).
Arrangement:
Arranged alphabetically by title of publication.
Biographical / Historical:
Artist, poet, publisher, and composer; New York and Barrytown, NY. Member of the artists' group, Fluxus. Died Oct. 25, 1998.
Related Materials:
Additional Higgins' papers also located at: The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Calif.
Provenance:
Donated 1998 by Dick Higgins.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
56 items, almost entirely printed matter, consist of exhibition catalogues, announcements, books, pamphlets, newsletters, flyers, broadsides, calendar, prospectus cards, clippings, and posters generated by central and orbital figures associated with Fluxus: Allan Kaprow, Charlotte Moorman, Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, George Maciunas, Peter Moore, and Richard Kostelanetz.
Biographical / Historical:
Wilentz was proprietor of the Eighth Street Bookshop; New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 2000 by Ted and Joan Wilentz. The papers arrived through Ted Wilentz's appraiser, William Morgan, who also signed the Deed of Gift.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
An interview with Benjamin Patterson conducted 2009 May 22, by Kathy Goncharov, for the Archives of American Art, at the Patterson's home, in New York, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Benjamin Patterson (1934- ) is a Fluxus artist and musician who lives and works in Germany and New York, New York. Patterson was educated at the University of Michigan and plays the double-bass.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 5 min.
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.
Occupation:
Musicians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Assemblage artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
Research materials assembled by Phyllis Freeman, on the subject of 20th century artists' manifestos. Files include research correspondence, mss. drafts of the monograph (never published), "Manifestos in the Visual Arts: Programs and Movements Since 1900," and eight feet of subject files, covering movements and groups such as Abstract Expressionism, American Abstract Artists, Blaue Reiter, Die Brucke, Constructivism, Dadaism, Fluxus, Futurism, MA (Hungarian avant-garde), Mexican murals, Orphism, the Société Anonyme, De Stijl, and Vorticism.
Arrangement:
Arranged into five series: Series: I. Correspondence, II. Writings, III. Subject Files, IV. Projects, V. Printed Materials.
Biographical / Historical:
Phyllis Freeman (1929- 1997) was an art historian, writer and editor in New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated in 1997 by Phyllis Freeman's cousin, Nancy Price Freedman, and her husband Morris Freedman.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century -- Mexico. Search this
