Schneemann (Carolee) Papers, 1959-1994

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Summary

Title:
Carolee Schneemann papers
Dates:
1959-1994
Creators:
Burns, Gerald, Constantinides, Kathy, 1936-, Bergé, Carol, 1928-2006, Brakhage, Stan, Eshleman, Clayton, Friedman, Ken, 1949-, Copp, Fletcher, Corner, Philip, Hendricks, Geoffrey, Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998, Giorno, John, Hendricks, Bici, Kultermann, Udo, Lebel, Jean-Jacques, Kaprow, Allan, Ay-o, 1931-, Andersen, Eric, Vostell, Wolf, 1932-1998, Wikarska, Carol, Tillman, Lynne, Varèse, Edgard, 1883-1965, Schneemann, Carolee, 1939-2019, Sondheim, Alan, Rothenberg, Jerome, 1931-, Sayre, Henry M., 1948-, Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-, Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995, Rogala, Miroslaw, Moore, Peter, 1932-1993, Moorman, Charlotte, McCall, Anthony, McPherson, Bruce R. (Bruce Rice), 1951-, Lerner & Turner, and Malloy, Judy, 1942-
Abstract:
The archive documents Schneemann's performances, happenings, film and book production, and exhibitions from 1959-1994. It includes original materials relating to performances and publication projects in the form of notes, drawings, performance scripts and manuscripts; correspondence with visual, literary and performing artists, art critics, and other individuals prominent in the international avant-garde; printed ephemera, artists' books, and Fluxus objects by Schneemann and others; lecture notes and other materials pertaining to Schneemann as teacher and lecturer; research files on performance and feminist topics; manuscripts by others about Schneemann's work; and photograph albums which provide visual documentation of much of her performance work.
Extent:
60 Linear Feet (123 boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Carolee Schneemann papers, 1959-1994, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 950001.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa950001

Background

Scope and content:

The archive documents Schneemann's performances, happenings, film and book production, and exhibitions from 1959-1994. It includes original materials relating to performances and publication projects in the form of notes, drawings, performance scripts and manuscripts; correspondence with visual, literary and performing artists, art critics, and other individuals prominent in the international avant-garde; printed ephemera, artists' books, and Fluxus objects by Schneemann and others; lecture notes and other materials pertaining to Schneemann as teacher and lecturer; research files on performance and feminist topics; manuscripts by others about Schneemann's work; and photograph albums which provide visual documentation of much of her performance work.

Biographical / historical:

Carolee Schneemann actively engaged in performance art, experimental film-making, the Fluxus movement and feminist theory in the 1960s and 1970s. She is best known for the provocative use of her nude body to explore personal expression, sexual taboos and feminism in both multi-media performances and solo improvisational work. Born in 1939, Schneemann studied painting at Bard College, Columbia University, The New School, and the University of Illinois. Her performance work evolved out of a desire to express more than she could within the confines of her paintings, and retains some of the gestural qualities of abstract expressionism and the cluttered look of assemblage. In addition to choreographing her own scripts, Schneemann participated in some of the most influential events of the 1960s, including: Philip Corner's "An Environment for Sound and Motion" at the Living Theater (1962), Claes Oldenburg's "Store Days" (1962), Robert Rauschenberg's theater experiments, Robert Morris' "Site" (1964), and in Fluxus concerts.

Schneemann made many films, some of an experimental nature and others which documented her performances. "Fuses" (1964-67), her most notorious film, presents a woman's perspective of intimacy and eroticism. The film was edited for two years, during which time Schneemann burned, scratched, painted, glued, and layered its images to create a fluid sense of sexuality. In the 1970s, Schneemann conducted research on earth goddesses and ancient mythology in search of female power structures. She realized that a certain component of her work had always explored these themes, such as the use of snakes in "Eye Body" (1963). Schneemann's studies permeate her writings and her classes on art and theory. After the mid-1970s, Schneemann performed infrequently, preferring instead to concentrate on painting, exhibiting, lecturing and teaching. She died in 2019.

Acquisition information:
Acquired 1995.
Processing information:

Lynda Bunting unpacked, processed and wrote the box list and catalog record from August 1995 to March 1996. Kelly Nipper assisted by processing Series IX. Writings about or by Schneemann and describing some albums in Series X. Performance Albums.

Arrangement:

The archive is arranged in ten series: Series I. Projects; Series II. Notes; Series III. Correspondence; Series IV. Ephemera and objects; Series V. Teaching and students' work; Series VI. Feminist research files; Series VII. Film and performance files; Series VIII. Other clippings; Series IX. Writings about or by Schneemann; Series X. Performance albums.

Physical location:
Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Rules or conventions:
archives, personal papers, and manuscripts

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Lynda Bunting.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-10-24 16:58:38 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.

Preferred citation:

Carolee Schneemann papers, 1959-1994, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 950001.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa950001

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
Website