Finding aid for the Wolfgang Stoerchle papers, 1952-2007, bulk 1968-1998
Emmabeth Nanol
Descriptive Summary
Title: Wolfgang Stoerchle papers
Date (inclusive): 1952-2007
Number: 2009.M.16
Creator/Collector:
Stoerchle, Wolfgang
Physical Description:
5.17 Linear Feet
(12 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The archive of conceptual, video, and
performance artist Wolfgang Stoerchle documents his brief career through video and sound
recordings, correspondence, notes, clippings, and photographic materials.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
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Language: Collection material is in Description is in
English.
Biographical/Historical Note
Wolfgang Stoerchle was an important figure in the development of performance and video art
in Southern California in the 1970s. Born in Germany, Stoerchle emigrated to Toronto, Canada
with his family in 1959. In 1962 he and his brother Peter rode horseback through the United
States for ten months to Los Angeles, where Stoerchle lived from 1963 to 1964.
After attending the University of Oklahoma from 1964 to 1968, Stoerchle enrolled in the MFA
program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. While there he began experimenting
with performance and sound art. He performed throughout California with Miles Varner and
Daniel Lentz in a group called California Time Machine. In 1970 Allan Kaprow recruited
Stoerchle to teach in the Post-Studio Art program at the California Institute of the Arts.
Encouraged by Nam June Paik, who was also teaching at CalArts during this time, Stoerchle
began experimenting with video. Collectively, his video works show a complete dissection of
the medium, isolating nearly every formal property of video and turning it towards often
poignant efforts to capture and contain the body.
Stoerchle was included in a number of important exhibitions in the early 1970s, including
24 Young Artists at LACMA in 1971, the Pier 18 exhibition at MoMA, and a two-person
exhibition with William Wegman at Sidney Janis gallery. He moved to New York in 1973 and
shifted his concentration from the abstract and conceptual work that had garnered so much
attention, to blunt depictions of sexuality and nudity. Stoerchle left New York by the
middle of 1973.
During the last three years of his life Stoerchle moved back and forth between Mexico City,
Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Santa Fe, where he lived with his second wife, Carol
Lingham, whom he married in 1974. Stoerchle continued producing art during this time,
primarily fiery abstract pencil drawings and ephemeral sculptures resembling rudimentary
shrines and mounds. In the fall of 1975, he presented his final performance in John
Baldessari's studio. On March 14, 1976, Stoerchle died following injuries suffered in a car
accident.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Wolfgang Stoerchle papers, 1952-2007, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession
no. 2009.M.16
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2009m16
Acquisition Information
The archive was acquired from Carol Lingham in 2009.
Processing History
Vladimira Stefura processed and created a box list of the archive in June 2009. Later in
2009 and 2010 Emmabeth Nanol further processed the archive, devised the arrangement, and
expanded the box list into a preliminary finding aid under the supervision of Andra
Darlington.
Scope and Content of Collection
The archive contains documentation of work produced by Stoerchle during his short career,
as well as a small amount of personal material. A significant component of the archive is a
set of half-inch open-reel tapes documenting Stoerchle's experiments with video. In addition
to his well-known works, the videos also include documentation of some of Stoerchle's
lesser-known works, such as a live performance with Viva, some of his more provocative
performances, and a television "dinner" performance produced with Allan Kaprow, Emmett
Williams, and Helene Winer. Also included are audiotapes of Stoerchle's sound works and a
slide and sound installation. The archive contains a small number of works by other artists,
including early video reels by Nam June Paik and William Wegman, and sound works made by
Daniel Lentz in honor of Stoerchle.
Also included in the papers is a small selection of photographs of works Stoerchle produced
as an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma, extensive photographic
documentation of sculptures and performances he produced at UCSB, CalArts, and elsewhere in
Los Angeles, and images of drawings and sculpture he produced in Santa Fe and Mexico.
Stoerchle's childhood is represented by a few family photographs and images of drawings and
sculptures he made in his youth.
Among the limited correspondence are letters received by Stoerchle, personal letters
between Stoerchle and his wife, Carol Lingham, and letters to Lingham following Stoerchle's
death, including some lengthy remembrances by friends. The archive also contains an
extensive set of press clippings about Stoerchle during his lifetime. Much of the archive
was assembled by Lingham after Stoerchle's death.
Arrangement
Organized in four series:
Series I. Personal files, 1952-2007;
Series
II. Documentation of artworks, 1968-1975, undated;
Series
III. Materials about Stoerchle, 1965-2006, undated;
Series
IV. Audiovisual materials, 1970-2006, undated
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Stoerchle, Wolfgang
Subjects - Topics
Performance art -- California -- Los Angeles
Video art -- California -- Los Angeles
Genres and Forms of Material
Performance art -- 20th century
Video art -- 20th century
Videotapes
Sound recordings -- 20th century
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Photographs, Original
Correspondence -- 20th century
Contributors
Paik, Nam June,
1932-2006
Wegman, William
Williams, Emmett
Winer, Helene,
1946-
Kaprow,
Allan
Lentz, Daniel, 1942-
Stoerchle, Wolfgang
Series I.
Personal files,
1952-2007
Physical Description:
0.6 Linear
Feet
(2 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
This series contains correspondence, notes, marriage and death certificates,
photocopies of childhood photographs, items relating to Stoerchle's car accident, and
letters received by his widow, Carol Lingham, after his death. The materials were
originally assembled by Lingham in a black binder, which was dismantled for conservation
purposes.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 1, folder 2
Legal documents,
1959-1976
Trek through America on horseback,
1962-1964
Scope and Content Note
Included are fake newspaper articles and several clippings from small-town newspapers
related to Stoerchle's horseback trip across the United States.
Portraits of Stoerchle,
circa 1970
box 1, folder 4
Black and white photographs
box 1, folder 5
Stoerchle's notes,
1971-1975
Scope and Content Note
Folder also contains Stoerchle's address book from 1971.
box 1, folder 6
Correspondence,
1975-1996
Scope and Content Note
Includes letters to Carol Lingham years after Stoerchle's death.
box 1, folder 7
Materials relating to Stoerchle's car accident,
1976
box 1, folder 8
Lingham's notes,
1996-2007
Series II.
Documentation of artworks,
1968-1975,
undated
Physical Description:
2.71 Linear
Feet
(5 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
This series primarily contains photographic documentation of Stoerchle's artworks, from
an early exhibition of paintings and sculpture to his final performance.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Paintings and sculpture,
1968
Scope and Content Note
Exhibition at University of California, Santa Barbara Graduate Gallery.
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 1-3.
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeve 4.
Gastronomics System,
1970
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 5-6.
Plaster Pieces,
1970-1971
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 7-25.
Plaster Drop events,
1970-1971
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 26-29.
Ashley-Buckley-Stoerchle Sound III,
1970
box 8, item D2
Sound disc
Scope and Content Note
1 sound disc : 45 rpm. (2 copies)
Budd-Lentz-Stoerchle,
1970
box 6
Slides
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 30-31.
Exchange of Clothes event,
1970
Scope and Content Note
At Storke Plaza, University of California, Santa Barbara.
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 32-35.
Arm Wrestling,
1970
Scope and Content Note
With Robert Morris at Butler Gallery, Santa Barbara.
box 2, folder 9
Newspaper clippings and photographs
box 6
Slides and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 36-40.
Video works,
1970-1972
Scope and Content Note
See also boxes 8-10 for related audiovisual materials.
box 6
Slides, negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 41-47.
Light Piece,
1972-1973
Scope and Content Note
At California Institute of the Arts.
box 6
Slide and negatives
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 48-49.
Attempt Public Erection,
1972
box 6
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
In sleeve 50.
Pomona College performance,
1972
box 6
Transparency
Scope and Content Note
In sleeve 51.
box 6
Slide
Scope and Content Note
In sleeve 52.
Wolf on table - jumping off,
1972
box 6
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
In sleeve 53.
Last performance,
1975
Scope and Content Note
At John Baldessari studio.
box 6
Slides and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 54-56.
box 6
Slides and negatives
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 57-59.
Miscellaneous,
1970,
undated
box 6
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
In sleeves 60-61.
Stoerchle's original sketches,
1975,
undated
box 12
Mounted sketches
Scope and Content Note
Contains 5 unframed original drawings and one handwritten note detailing the
creation of these drawings.
Series III.
Materials about Stoerchle,
1965-2006,
undated
Physical Description:
0.44 Linear
Feet
(1 box)
Scope and Content Note
This series contains newspaper articles and clippings relating to Stoerchle's
exhibitions, as well as other artists' works about Stoerchle, including a retrospective
exhibition in 1996.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 3, folder 1
Newspaper clippings,
1965-1972,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Folder includes newspaper reviews of Stoerchle's performances: Video Works at the
Janis Gallery (1970-1971) and Art as Illusion at Pomona College Gallery (1972).
box 3, folder 5
Elizabeth Gilchrist,
1979-1998
box 3, folder 6
Centre national d'art contemporain de Grenoble,
1996-1997
Series IV.
Audiovisual Materials,
1970-2006,
undated
Physical Description:
2.02 Linear
Feet
(4 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of this series contains audio and video materials relating to Stoerchle's
works, including the video artworks themselves, recordings of performances, and video
from a retrospective exhibition organized after his death. Also included are audio
recordings of Daniel Lentz's "Requiem of Wolfgang Stoerchle."
Arrangement
Arranged according to medium.
Sound recordings,
1976-2006,
undated
box 7, item D1
Daniel Lentz, "On the Leopard Altar,"
2006
Scope and Content Note
1 compact disc, 4 3/4 in.
box 8, item C1
Daniel Lentz, "Requiem: In Memoriam Wolfgang Stoerchle,"
1976
Daniel Lentz, Requiem: In Memoriam Wolfgang Stoerchle (digitized version
available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 sound cassette, 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 in.
"Stereo soundtrack for slide piece,"
undated
"Stereo soundtrack for slide piece" (digitized version available on-site
only)
box 8, item R1
Audio recording
Scope and Content Note
1 sound tape reel, 7 in.
box 6
Slide
Scope and Content Note
In sleeve 62.
box 8, item R2
"Soundtrack for live performance,"
undated
"Soundtrack for live performance" (digitized version available on-site
only)
Scope and Content Note
1 sound tape reel, 5 in.
box 11, item D2
Ashley, Buckley, Stoerchle, Mills College,
Sound
III,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 sound disc : 45 rpm (2 copies). Contents: side 1. Match I (2:20); side 2. Match
II (2:38).
box 11, item D3
Daniel Lentz,
After Images,
1981
Scope and Content Note
1 sound disc : 33 1/3 rpm. Contents: side 1. Slow Motion Mirror (4:20); Midnight
White (3:10), Solar Cadence (4:46); side 2. Dancing on the Sun (12:11).
Video recordings,
1970-1972,
undated
box 9, item V1
"Sue Turning 000-285, Walla Walla 285,"
undated
Sue Turning 000-285, Walla Walla 285 (digital version available on-site
only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V2
"Close up Sketching, Shoot with Different Sound Tracks, Scraping Things off
the Wall,"
undated
Close up Sketching, Shoot with Different Sound Tracks, Scraping Things off the
Wall
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V3
"Empty The Ring Stuff #475, New drafting, New undressing,"
undated
Empty The Ring Stuff #475, New drafting, New undressing
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V4
"Hypnosis piece 11. Ultra, Humphrey, Peter,"
undated
Hypnosis piece 11. Ultra, Humphrey, Peter (digital version available on-site
only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V5
"John's Outline (look up),"
undated
John's Outline (look up) (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V6
Untitled,
undated
Untitled (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V7
"A.T.E. No.1 Dinner Party,"
undated
A.T.E. No.1 Dinner Party (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V8
"Video works,"
1970-1972
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, b&w, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 1. Running with light; 2. Dirt
blowing; 3. Dirt through window; 4. Box dropping; 5. Girl by ladder; 6. Shoe piece;
7. Walking upside down; 8. Running upside down; 9. Penis; 10. Penis with Disney
characters.
box 9, item V9
"Good tape (performance),"
undated
Good tape (performance) (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V10
"Color (Penis),"
undated
Color (Penis)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V11
"[...] movement [...] loft (Finding [...]),"
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Some text on the label is illegible.
box 9, item V12
"Ultra interview ( [...] - Writer),"
undated
Ultra interview ( [...] - Writer) (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Some text on the label is illegible.
box 9, item V13
"Short pieces,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 10. Running with light; 11. Dirt blowing; 12.
Sitting on TV; 13. Running upside down; 14. Penis; 15. Disney toys; 16. Drawing; 17.
Black & white roll; 18. Crawling out of cloth.
box 9, item V14
"Good tapes,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 9, item V15
"Theory testing conference. Tape I. Terry Grzyb-Wysocki,"
1977 Jul
15
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Numbered on label: "1."
box 9, item V16
"Video Works 1970-72. Standing nude,"
1970-1972
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, b&w, 1/2 in. tape. Numbered on label: "2."
box 9, item V17
"Pomona Performance Piece,"
undated
Pomona Performance Piece (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Numbered on label: "3."
box 9, item V18
Compilation,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: Running with light; Dirt blowing; Dirt through
window; Box dropping; Girl sitting by ladder. Numbered on label: "6."
box 9, item V19
Compilation,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 1. Shoe piece; 2. Walking upside down; 3.
Running upside down; 4. Penis; 5. Penis with Disney characters. Numbered on label:
"7."
box 9, item V20
"Video part for performance in Boston,"
undated
Video part for performance in Boston (digital version available on-site
only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Numbered on label: "8."
box 9, item V21
Compilation,
undated
Compilation
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 1. Drawing tape; 2. Ball bouncing; 3. Small
passport pictures; 4. Talking with letter. Numbered on label: "9."
box 9, item V22
Compilation,
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 1. Undressing; 2. Cloth; 3. Draping; 4. MFA
show; 5. Armwrestling (Morris). Numbered on label: "10."
box 9, item V23
Compilation,
undated
Compilation (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. 1. Waiting; 2. Sitting in chair (27 st.); 3. Christian
& Ultra. Numbered on label: "12."
box 10, item V24
"Food Stuff,"
1972
Food Stuff
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 1. sandwich; 2. apple; 3. lunch; 4. dinner; 5.
eating a carrot (with face in the dark); 6. apple with flashlight vertical roll.
Numbered on label: "13."
box 10, item V25
"All Good Tape,"
undated
All Good Tape
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Numbered on label: "14."
box 10, item V26
"use for audio & visual com?,"
undated
use for audio & visual com? (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Numbered on label: "15."
box 10, item V27
"Wolf is Dead: performances and videotapes of Wolfgang
Stoerchle,"
1982
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1 in. tape. "Saturday, December 11, [1982], 8:00 pm, Santa Barbara
Contemporary Arts Forum. Transfers made by Lentz/ Dunlap/ Erenburg 'Wolf is Dead."
Title of exhibit. Also title of Requiem by Lentz"--label.
box 10, item V28
"William Wegman, John Baldessari,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape.
box 10, item V29
"Hot Dogs for Gaugin,"
undated
Hot Dogs for Gauguin (digital version available on-site only)
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Short film by Martin Brest.
box 10, item V30
"Bill Viola, Stuart Birnbaum, Lowell Darling, Nam June Paik,"
undated
Scope and Content Note
1 videoreel, 1/2 in. tape. Contents: 1. Bill Viola,
Return; 2. Bill Viola,
Information; 3.
Stuart Birnbaum
Depression; 4. Lowell Darling
L.A. Acupuncture; 5. Nam June Paik
Global Groove.
