"Dance Archiving Project" raw material on the noted tap dancer, Charles 'Honi' Coles, consisting of four-hour interview on four video cassettes.
"Twentieth Century Artists" raw material on the artist Lee Krasner, consisting of three-hour interview on three video cassettes.
Tape 1 (60:00): Childhood; influence of Hebrew on her art; influence of calligraphy on her art; attitudes toward feminism; reasons for getting into art; early education; education at Cooper Union and National Academy of the Arts (New York); ideas on talent vs. will in art; the unconscious in art; the opening of Museum of Modern Art (New York); life after art school; job as a waitress; work with Harold Rosenberg and Max Speevak on murals for the WPA (Workers Program Administration); influence of loft spaces on large-scale paintings; early shows of Abstract Expressionists (Gallatin, Morris, Furlinghouse, Balcolm, Green, Ballatowski); views on the group; Hans Hoffman's teachings on Cubism and her perceptions of his art; Greenberg's and Rosenberg's relationships with artists of the 1930's and 40's; her debunking of the myth of there being a "group" of New York painters; the meaning of the term "Abstract Expressionism"; her disputation of regionalism in Pollock's paintings.
Tape 2 (60:00): Disputation of the provincial label placed on Pollock; Krasner's and Pollock's ideas on French art; disputation of the myths placed on Abstract Expressionists by critics; her "Little Image" paintings; influences of Kadinsky, Picasso, Matisse and Miro on her and Pollock; first meeting with Pollock; influence of John Graham and his idea of "autonomic writing"; early encounters with Peggy Guggenheim; influence of Emerson's writings; her wedding with Pollock; Pollock's interest in spiritual matters and rituals; their move and life at the Springs in East Hampton, Long Island; the "macho" aspects of the New York artists in the 1940's and 50's; the influence of Melville's and Joyce's writings on her and Pollock.
Tape 3 (70:00): Overemphasis of Jungian analysis on Pollock's works; life with Pollock (good times and bad); influence of Jung's writings on her and Pollock; refutation of group label placed on the New York School; polarity of struggle and transcendence in her paintings and those of the Abstract Expressionists; gesture and "the physical" in her works; nature and "the organic" in her and Pollock's works; impact of transcendentalism on her paintings; changes in her work after Pollock's death; "mystery" in painting (the way some paintings "miraculously" come through to her); the importance of the "Little Image" paintings to her career; origins of her collages; use of calligraphy in her works; intuitive, unconscious nature of her creations; her work cycle; perceptions toward her audience.
This project was the second of what was to have been a collection of interviews with artists of all fields, the goal of which was the formation of a national videotape archival center at WGBH. Edited segments of these interviews were to be used for broadcast. Neither of these goals came to fruition. The only other interview to be conducted as part of the Twentieth Century Artists" series was with installation artist Judy Chicago. (Dancer Honi Coles was interviewed as part of the "Dance Archiving Project" in 1981, and Melanie Kahane (interior designer), Paul Rand (graphic artist), Charles Blessing (city planner), and O'Neil Ford (architect) were interviewed as part of the "Design Archives" project in 1981.)
The interview was conducted over two days in October 1979 in Boston. The interviewer is Barbara Novak, a professor and authority on American painting. The bulk of the interview consists of Krasner discussing her pre-Pollock and Pollock years. (Krasner was the wife of painter Jackson Pollock.)
Lee Krasner was born in New York City in 1911 to a conservative Orthodox Jewish family. After becoming interested in art while in high-school she studied painting at Cooper Union and the National Academy of the Arts in New York. After graduation she worked as a muralist as part of the WPA (Work Progress Administration), along with many artists who would later become well-known "New York School" artists. She first met Jackson Pollock in 1943. They were married in 1946. Pollock and Krasner formed part of the New York School of artists in the 1940's and '50's. Like Pollock, Krasner was regarded as an Abstract Expressionist, perhaps the most famous group of twentieth century American painters. Though she was well known when she met Pollock, his paintings and persona largely overshadowed Krasner during their tumultuous years together. After Pollock's death in 1956, Krasner went through a period of inactivity until reemerging with her "Little Image" series in the 1960's. She also became famous for her collages in which she used fragments of her former paintings. She died at the age of 83 in 1984.
"Design Archives" raw material on the interior designer Melanie Kahane, consisting of 180-minute interview on three videocassettes.
Tape 1 (58:00): Childhood in Sioux Falls, S.D.; imaginative abilities of children; her children's books on design (There's a Decorator in Your Dollhouse); talent vs. environment and their influence on children's attitudes toward design; her father's influence; education at Parsons School of Design in New York; difficulties in finding jobs after graduation in the Depression; studies in Paris and travels in Europe; decision to go into interior decorating; starting her own business; development of control system for her business; importance of cost and budgets in design field; her knowledge of color; differences in trends in fashion and interior design; effects of history on design (Industrial Revolution, Victorian era, WWI) and effects catastrophic events have on design.
Tape 2 (59:00): Need for designers/architects to know the human body; need for designers to work in difficult situations; economy of space due to economics; argues there is no distinction between the designer and decorator; her Black and White in Pumpkin Room design of the late 1940's -- inspirations for it and its impact; importance of gaining publicity for one's designs; origins of her Red Hot Stove design and its impact on her becoming known for kitchen and cabinet design; her product designs for Westinghouse, especially colored bulbs for home use, and RCA; role of computers in design; life with her husband; their travels in Russia, Portugal, and England.
Tape 3 (58:45): Importance for designers to be able to completely visualize projects before they begin; changes in business of design over the years; education of the consumer in design matters; her designs for the Schubert Theater in Boston; her restoration designs for rooms at the Waldorf in New York; her determination of fees for jobs; favorite and least favorite types of jobs; the need for designers to be involved in all aspects of the design business; interests in urban renewal; her designs for cabinets used in the space shuttle; value of NASA research in everyday life; the upbringing of her daughter; the need for young designers to struggle and try many experiences to become well-rounded; the need for design schools to teach business elements; her input in Harry Siegel's book A Guide to Business Principles and Practices for Interior Designers; the need for design firms to become larger with a wide range of specialized workers, but the prevention of its happening due to ego.
One of four interviews conducted in 1981 as part of the New Television Workshop's (NTW) Design Archiving Project. The "Design Archives" was an NEA-sponsored project originally conceived in 1980 as an attempt to record lengthy interviews with four "national treasures" involved in various fields of design. The others were O'Neil Ford (architecture), Charles Blessing (city planning), and Paul Rand (graphic design). Plans to broadcast portions of the interviews never came to pass, nor did plans to transfer the interviews to videodisc in order to provide a resource for researchers and students in the field of graphic design. Other NTW projects undertaken to interview famous artists were the "Dance Archiving Project," in which tap dancer Honi Coles was interviewed in 1981, and the "Twentieth Century Artists" series, in which artists Judy Chicago and Lee Krasner were interviewed in 1979.
The interviewer is Rita St. Clair, an influential interior designer who founded her own Baltimore-based design firm (Rita St. Clair Associates Inc.) and a member of the American Society of Interior Designers. The interview covers biographical aspects of Kahane's life and her ideas on interior design.
Melanie Kahane was born in Sioux Falls, SD. She graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City and studied design for one year in Paris. She started her own interior design firm in the 1930's. She devised a control system to guide her business operations that became a standard in the design field. She drew fame for her Black and White in Pumpkin Room of the late 1940's, designed for an exhibition at the Grand Central Palace in New York City. She was also known for her industrial and product designs, especially her Red Hot Stove and colored light bulbs for home use. She developed products for companies such as Westinghouse and RCA. She also oversaw design and restoration projects for theaters and hotels, including work on rooms at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City.
'Design Archives' raw material on the architect O'Neil Ford, consisting of 4-hour interview on five videocassettes. One of the cassettes does not contain interview footage, but 29 raw, unedited minutes of exterior and interior shots of Ford's buildings. Tape 1 (57:00): Introduction by Lacy about Ford's background, contributions, and fame; educational background at International Correspondence School of Scranton, PA; first job experience; inspiration for being an architect; places/countries where he has designed buildings; reasons for his notoriety; dislike of "publicity for publicity's sake" in architecture; his "non-style" of architecture (use of crafts and honesty of materials); childhood experiences and family influences; influences of other architects on him; dislike of egoism in architecture; architects he's fond of; houses he designed in San Antonio; impressions of other architects; disdain for fashion in architecture; works between WWI and WWII; studies in Europe in 1930's; following of a traditional path in architecture; origins of his interest in historical preservation; works in Texas, Georgia, and D.C. in the 1930's; work under Lyndon B. Johnson on the LaVillita Project in the 1930's and his relationship with Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960's; relationship with politicians and governments regarding environmental issues. Tape 2 (58:00) (contains some audio problems): The journals he has kept for past 29 years; involvement in education -lecturer, professor at the University of Virginia and lecturer at Harvard; disappointment at high schools' inability to prepare students for college-level engineering and architecture; the need for schools to emphasize the arts; his architecture videos designed for children; fights with governments to preserve nature and parks; views on Pompidou Center in Paris; difficulty with designing new commissions and putting human qualities in buildings; distaste for modern materials; technology in architecture; necessary limitations and seriousness that should exist in architecture; disdain for egoism by young architects whose avant-garde designs are undertaken simply to gain fame; the learning process among architects at his office; treatment of interiors and landscapes as they relate to his firm's architectural plans; age vs. experience in architecture; value of design competitions. Tape 3 (59:00): Fame in and feelings for San Antonio; his knowledge of the city and its people; the need for restraint in architecture; dislike for over-ornamentation; contributions of Bauhaus on architecture; refutes Philip Johnson's idea of monumental architecture; brief views on architecture in London, Rome, Paris, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles; development along San Antonio's river; ugliness of U.S. suburbs; vulgarity of American architecture; ideas of Las Vegas and its architecture; influence of the advertising industry on architecture, especially the use of billboards; damage of parking lots and garages on cityscapes; active social life in downtown San Antonio; beauty of Paris, especially due to the Metro and the use of underground parking; livability of London; award ceremony in his honor in Waxahachie, Texas. Tape 4 (49:30): Business of architecture; how his firm gains clients (corporations, universities, museums, and hospitals); ideas on hospital design, based on his own stays in hospitals; ideas on airport design and university design; regional architecture and its relevance in today's age; the need to respect indigenous materials and characteristics; stresses common sense and simplicity in architecture; dislike of dogma; church design -its simplicities and complexities; disdain for modern architecture and architects who are "primadonnas' simple, sensitive arrangement of ancient buildings at the ruins of Mexican and Central American Indian cultures. Tape 5 (29:00)--MARKED "Reel 1--Building Footage"
"Design Archives" raw material on the graphic designer Paul Rand, consisting of 225-minute interview on five videocassettes. One of the cassettes does not contain interview footage, but 34 raw, unedited minutes of exterior and interior shots of Rand's house, including shots of some of his most famous designs.
Tape 1 (44:15): Rand's influence and his reception of an honorary medal; inability to answer question about the graphic artist's ability to enrich the world; what a graphic designer does; all-pervading nature of graphic design; difference between illustrators and designers; technology's role in making many design skills obsolete; he calls design the most important element in all the visual arts; childhood origins in Brooklyn and natural early interests in drawing and design; education at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and the Art Students' League in New York; first jobs doing catalog illustrations; work at George Schweitzer's advertising studio; Europe's superior designers of the 1930's; work in the late 1930's for Direction magazine; his famous "Barbed-Wire X-mas" cover for Direction; client-designer relationship of the times.
Tape 2 (56:30): Further differentiates between graphic designers and illustrators; involvement with Apparel Arts magazine in 1936; freedom he had then as a designer compared to designers today who are curbed by management; his relationship with his students; his relationship with clients; work at Weintraub Advertising Agency in New York beginning in 1941; his clients at that time and conditions one had to consider when designing for large companies; dislike for market research in design; like for clients who trust his designs; dislike of "cloning" in today's advertising; pressures of working for magazines and advertising agencies; the value of having constraints in one's designs.
Tape 3 (59:15): Various meanings of the word "design"; defines graphic arts as a term covering all fields of art; overtly commercial nature of graphic art; distinction between fine and commercial arts; value of the education his students get; his typical students; the value of instinct over training; origins and process behind his famous ads for Orbach's Department Store while at Weintraub; promotion of social causes in his ads; story about the rejection of his proposal for a Picasso exhibition catalog; salesmanship in design; origins of his IBM designs; ABC, Westinghouse, and UPS designs; the need for a designer to keep a distance from his designs; the importance of repetition in design; the support of Westinghouse president for his logo design; work with J. Irwin Miller; his present desire to remain small and maintain a few corporate clients; first meeting and subsequent relationship with Laszlo Moholy-Nagy; Nagy's influence on him, especially regarding book reading and collecting.
Tape 4 (56:30): Influence of books on him; the writing process behind his book Thoughts on Design (1947); his house/studio in Connecticut; anecdotes of his childhood home; difficulties of working at home; his book and art collections; writing children's books in the 1950's; difficulty of working with large corporate clients afraid to take chances on designs; influences of LeCorbusier, Cassandra, Brodovich, and Jensen on his work; the dominance of Europeans on the design field; Japanese appreciation of Rand; sense of humor in his designs; ephemerality of graphic design; Japanese design and its influence; dislike of over-emphasis on imitating schools of design; influence of classical music on visual arts; European and Japanese influences on design; recent Japanese tendency to copy Western design; impossibility of creating a permanent design philosophy in large companies with constant turnover of leaders; the importance of salesmanship in design; ethics and morals in design and art; lack of famous contemporary designers; praises posters of Howard Chafton in the 1930's and the'40's; the influence of William Morris' Arts and Crafts Movement on design; the brilliance of German designer Anton Mahlau (sp?); influence of Tom Benremo and his incorporation of modern art notions into design; the influence of the Bauhaus on design.
Tape 5 (34:30): Raw, unedited footage of exterior and interior shots of Rand's house, including shots of some of his most famous designs; shots of Rand and his wife walking around their house, presumably for use in a broadcast version of the interview that never came to be.
One of four interviews conducted in 1981 as part of the New Television Workshop's (NTW) Design Archiving Project. The "Design Archives" was an NEA-sponsored project originally conceived in 1980 as an attempt to record lengthy interviews with four "national treasures" involved in various fields of design. The others were O'Neil Ford (architecture), Melanie Kahane (interior design), and Charles Blessing (city planning). Plans to broadcast portions of the interviews never came to pass. Nor did plans to transfer the interviews to videodisc in order to provide a resource for researchers and students in the field of graphic design. Other NTW projects undertaken to interview famous artists were the "Dance Archiving Project," in which tap dancer Honi Coles was interviewed in 1981, and the "Twentieth Century Artists" series, in which artists Judy Chicago and Lee Krasner were interviewed in 1979.
The interviewer is Carolyn Hightower, who was, at the time, Executive Director of the A.I.G.A. (American Institute of Graphic Arts). The interview focuses on Rand's professional life and his ideas on what makes a designer successful. Due perhaps to his humble nature, Rand often finds it difficult to answer questions about his influence and legacy.
Paul Rand was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1914. After studying in New York at the Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and the Art Students League in the early 1930's, he soon became Art Director of Esquire and Apparel Arts magazines. He quickly became known for his unique magazine illustrations and covers, beginning with the journal 'Direction.' He worked at the Weintraub Advertising Agency in New York from 1941-54, and along with designer Bill Bernbach designed covers that closely integrated design and copy. He became a freelance designer in 1955 and created standard, ubiquitous logos for major companies like IBM, Westinghouse, ABC, and UPS. He has lectured at many universities, including Yale, and has published several influential books on design theory, including "Thoughts on Design" in 1947 and "Paul Rand: A Designer's Art" in 1985. He received the gold medal from AIGA. He is considered by many to be the greatest designer of this century. His explorations of the formal vocabulary of European avant-garde movements and his development of a unique, Americanized graphic language has made him an influence on many young designers. His work is known for its wit, simplicity and its Bauhaus approach to design. He died in 1996 at the age of 82.
