Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Julie B. Martin

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.martin18
Creators:
Martin, Julie, 1938-
Zapol, Liza, 1978-
Dates:
2018 Nov. 7-8
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
14 Items
sound files (6 hr., 21 min.) Audio
digital, wav
95 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview with Julie B. Martin conducted 2018 November 7 and 8, by Liza Zapol, for the Archives of American Art at the Archives of American Art's office in New York, New York and at Martin's home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
Scope and Contents
Martin speaks of growing up in Nashville, Tennessee; traveling through Europe with family; her family business; her family's politics and relationship to religion and the arts; the expectations of her and her academic achievement; her time at Harvard and Columbia; her interest in Russia and her experiences in the Soviet Union; her experiences and education in art in New York and Europe; working with Robert Whitman; her thoughts on the Relationship of Judson Dance Theater to 9 Evenings; her recollections of the 9 Evenings artists use of technology and engineering; her thoughts on Oracle and Billy Klüver's relationship to Robert Rauschenberg; her understanding of Klüver's relationship to Robert Whitman, and Whitman's relationship to engineering and technology; her thoughts about the differences between Happenings and theatrical performance; her thoughts on gender and E.A.T., and homosexuality and the arts community; her recollections of the 1970s and Projects Outside Art with E.A.T.. Martin describes the Osaka "Pavillion" project, including the collaborations and engineering projects; her understanding of Fujiko Nakaya's fog sculpture and Martin's relationship with Nakaya; the concept of the environment and invisible environments, her memories of David Tutor's sound works; the relationship of E.A.T. to Shunk-Kender; the various parts of E.A.T.'s work in India; the history of the "New York Collection for Stockholm;" Her understanding of Klüver's work prior to, and concurrent with the founding of E.A.T. at Bell Labs; the collaboration with Klüver on a book on "Kiki de Montparnasse;" their interviews and research on artists from 1945-1965; and other projects; Martin describes the idealism of E.A.T.; the ongoing work and legacy of E.A.T.; Martin's ongoing work with Robert Whitman and Sylvia Palacios Whitman; her marriage to Klüver and Klüver's death; her interviews with artists involved in the Real Estate Show; the reconstruction of the footage of "9 Evenings;" her work with Simone Forti on "Cloths;" and a discussion of performance documentation and technology. Martin also recalls Claes Oldenberg; Allan Kaprow; Red Grooms; Jim Dine; Simone Forti; Carolee Schneemann; Steve Paxton; Yvonne Rainer; Jasper Johns; Merce Cunningham; John Cage; Robert Breer, Frosty Myers; Elsa Garmire; David Tudor; Tony Martin; John Pierce; Larry Owens; Pontus Hultén; Öyvind Fahlström; Lowell Cross; Shunk-Kender; Porter McCray; La Monte Young; Terry Riley; Trisha Brown; Allan Kaprow; Alfons Schilling, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Julie Martin (1938- ) is the Director of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.). Liza Zapol (1978- ) is the Robert and Arlene Kogod Secretarial Scholar in Oral History at the Archives of American Art.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Lichtenberg Family Foundation.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
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


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The transcript and recording are open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
System Details
Recorded on Tascam DR-100MKII R00329.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Klüver, Billy, 1927-2004 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Experiments in Art and Technology (Organization) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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