A Finding Aid to the Video Interviews with Paul Ryan, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider

Scope and Contents

The three video interviews with Paul Ryan, Frank Gillette, and Ira Schneider measure 7.09 gigabytes and date to 1992. Conducted by John Giancola, a financial supporter of the Raindance Corporation, the interviews cover the timeline and evolving ethos of the organization.

Arrangement

Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical

Paul Ryan (1943-2013), Frank Gillette (1941- ), and Ira Schneider (1939-2022) were video artists and founding members of the Raindance Corporation, now the Raindance Foundation. The three artists met through mutual professional connections in New York City in the late 1960s. Operating out of an apartment, these and other founding members created the Raindance Corporation in 1969. Using the medium of video, the founders aimed to contrast the secretive tone of their contemporary political climate by producing films of the everyday for the alternative television movement, using techniques like subject interaction and audience feedback. Frank Gillette and Ira Schneider produced the corporation's first notable piece, Wipe Cycle in 1969. Raindance is known for documenting the first Earth Day in 1970. After five successful years, during which time Raindance published several issues of its journal Radical Software, the organization began initiatives to support the next generation of video artists, such as publishing one of the first readers on video art and providing free access to technology and editing software. Raindance Foundation is currently located on Park Avenue, New York City.