Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with Otto Piene
Summary
- Collection ID:
- AAA.piene88
- Creators:
-
Piene, Otto, 1928-Brown, Robert F.
- Dates:
-
1988 Aug. 4-1990 Feb. 22
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
7 Itemssound cassettes (9 hr., 52 min.)122 PagesTranscript
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
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.
Scope and Contents
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
Biographical / Historical
Otto Piene (1928- ) is a painter and art administrator from Cambridge, Mass.
Administration
Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.
Digital Content
More Information
General
General
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 9 hr., 52 min.
General
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.
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Art, American | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Arts administrators -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge -- Interviews | Occupation | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Sound recordings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Interviews | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Mack, Heinz, 1931- | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Center for Advanced Visual Studies | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Group Zero | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions