Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Alison Knowles

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.knowle10
Creators:
Knowles, Alison, 1933-
Richards, Judith Olch
Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project
Dates:
2010 June 1-2
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
86 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
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.
Scope and Contents
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.
Scope and Contents
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

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.

Administration

Sponsor
This interview is part of the Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project, funded by the A G Foundation.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 5 mini discs. Duration is 5 hr., 45 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Conceptual artists -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fluxus (Group of artists) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women performance artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Performance art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists' studios Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albers, Josef Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brecht, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Callahan, Harry M. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chicago, Judy, 1939- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gordon, Coco, 1938- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hamilton, Richard, 1922- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hendricks, Jon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jones, Joe, 1909-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kaprow, Allan Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kuehn, Kathy Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lauf, Cornelia Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lindner, Richard, 1901-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Maciunas, George, 1931-1978 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mac Low, Jackson Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Moorman, Charlotte Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ono, Yōko Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paik, Nam June, 1932- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Saito, Takako, 1929- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schapiro, Miriam, 1923-2015 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schneemann, Carolee, 1939- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Schöning, Klaus Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Silverman, Gilbert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shiomi, Mieko, 1909-1948 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Spoerri, Daniel, 1930- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tenney, James Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Teitelbaum, Richard Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Waśko, Ryszard Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California Institute of the Arts -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Middlebury College -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pratt Institute. Art School -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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