Finding aid for the Wolfgang Stoerchle papers, 1952-2007, bulk 1968-1998 2009.M.16

Emmabeth Nanol

Special Collections

2010

1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100

Los Angeles 90049-1688

Business Number: (310) 440-7390

Fax Number: (310) 440-7780

reference@getty.edu

URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref

Contributing Institution: Special Collections

Title: Wolfgang Stoerchle papers

Creator: Paik, Nam June, 1932-2006

Creator: Wegman, William

Creator: Williams, Emmett

Creator: Winer, Helene, 1946-

Creator: Kaprow, Allan

Creator: Lentz, Daniel, 1942-

Creator: Stoerchle, Wolfgang

Identifier/Call Number: 2009.M.16

Physical Description: 5.17 Linear Feet (12 boxes)

Date (inclusive): 1952-2007

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 catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy .

Language of Material: Description is in English.

Preferred Citation

Wolfgang Stoerchle papers, 1952-2007, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2009.M.16

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2009m16

Access

Open for use by qualified researchers.

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.

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.

Acquisition Information

The archive was acquired from Carol Lingham in 2009.

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.

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.

Digitized Material

Selected audiovisual materials have been digitized and are available online:

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2009m16s4

Publication Rights

Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Performance art -- 20th century

Performance art -- California -- Los Angeles

Video art -- 20th century

Video art -- California -- Los Angeles

Videotapes

Sound recordings -- 20th century

Photographic prints -- 20th century

Photographs, Original

Correspondence -- 20th century

Stoerchle, Wolfgang

Personal files, Series I. 1952-2007

Physical Description: 0.6 Linear Feet(2 boxes)

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Contents 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.

Photographs, 1952-1975

box 1, folder 1

Photocopies

box 5

Originals

box 1, folder 2

Legal documents, 1959-1976

Trek through America on horseback, 1962-1964

Scope and Contents

Included are fake newspaper articles and several clippings from small-town newspapers related to Stoerchle's horseback trip across the United States.

box 1, folder 3

Papers

box 5

Color photographs

Portraits of Stoerchle, circa 1970

box 1, folder 4

Black and white photographs

box 5

Color photographs

box 1, folder 5

Stoerchle's notes, 1971-1975

Scope and Contents

Folder also contains Stoerchle's address book from 1971.

box 1, folder 6

Correspondence, 1975-1996

Scope and Contents

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

Documentation of artworks, Series II. 1968-1975, undated

Physical Description: 2.71 Linear Feet(5 boxes)

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Contents note

This series primarily contains photographic documentation of Stoerchle's artworks, from an early exhibition of paintings and sculpture to his final performance.

Paintings and sculpture, 1968

Scope and Contents

Exhibition at University of California, Santa Barbara Graduate Gallery.

box 2, folder 1

Photographs

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 1-3.

Balloon Water, 1969-1970

box 2, folder 2

Photographs

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeve 4.

Gastronomics System, 1970

box 2, folder 3

Photographs

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 5-6.

Plaster Pieces, 1970-1971

box 2, folder 4

Newspaper clippings

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 7-25.

Plaster Drop events, 1970-1971

box 2, folder 5

Newspaper clippings

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 26-29.

Ashley-Buckley-Stoerchle Sound III, 1970

Scope and Contents

See also item D2 in Box 11 for the related audio recording.

box 2, folder 6

Photograph

box 4*

Poster

Budd-Lentz-Stoerchle, 1970

box 2, folder 7

Papers

box 6

Slides

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 30-31.

Exchange of Clothes event, 1970

Scope and Contents

At Storke Plaza, University of California, Santa Barbara.

box 2, folder 8

Photographs

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 32-35.

Arm Wrestling, 1970

Scope and Contents

With Robert Morris at Butler Gallery, Santa Barbara.

box 2, folder 9

Newspaper clippings and photographs

box 6

Slides and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 36-40.

Video works, 1970-1972

Scope and Contents

See also boxes 8-10 for related audiovisual materials.

box 2, folder 10

Photographs

box 6

Slides, negatives and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 41-47.

Light Piece, 1972-1973

Scope and Contents

At California Institute of the Arts.

box 2, folder 11

Photographs

box 6

Slide and negatives

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 48-49.

Attempt Public Erection, 1972

box 2, folder 12

Photographs

box 6

Negatives

Scope and Contents

In sleeve 50.

Pomona College performance, 1972

box 2, folder 13

Photographs

box 6

Transparency

Scope and Contents

In sleeve 51.

Art as Illusion, 1972

box 2, folder 14

Newspaper clippings

box 6

Slide

Scope and Contents

In sleeve 52.

Wolf on table - jumping off, 1972

box 2, folder 15

Photographs

box 6

Negatives

Scope and Contents

In sleeve 53.

Last performance, 1975

Scope and Contents

At John Baldessari studio.

box 2, folder 16

Photographs

box 6

Slides and transparencies

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 54-56.

Paper Roll Burn, undated

box 2, folder 17

Photographs

box 6

Slides and negatives

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 57-59.

Miscellaneous, 1970, undated

box 2, folder 19

Papers

box 6

Negatives

Scope and Contents

In sleeves 60-61.

Stoerchle's original sketches, 1975, undated

box 2, folder 20

Photocopies

box 5

Originals

box 12

Mounted sketches

Materials about Stoerchle, Series III. 1965-2006, undated

Physical Description: 0.44 Linear Feet(1 box)

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Contents 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.

box 3, folder 1

Newspaper clippings, 1965-1972, undated

Scope and Contents

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 2

Wayne McCall, 1982

box 3, folder 3

Daniel Lentz, 1983

Processing Information

See also box 8-10 for related audiovisual materials.

box 3, folder 4

Jerry Pfaffl, 1997-1999

box 3, folder 5

Elizabeth Gilchrist, 1979-1998

box 3, folder 6

Centre national d'art contemporain de Grenoble, 1996-1997

box 3, folder 7

Nam June Paik, 2000-2006

Audiovisual Materials, Series IV. 1970-2006, undated

Physical Description: 2.02 Linear Feet(4 boxes)

Arrangement

Arranged according to medium.

Scope and Contents 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."

Titles of video works are inconsistent in Stoerchle's use. Many tapes are compilations of works arranged by Stoerchle as publicity samples, resulting in the renaming and duplication of some works. V11, V14, V16, V18, V19, and V22 are duplicates of other digitized tapes and therefore were not reformatted. V8 is duplicative of a digitized video from Kaprow (980063, item V69) and therefore was not digitized. V13 is damaged and unavailable for reformatting. V15 is blank.

Sound recordings, 1976-2006, undated

box 7, Item D1

Daniel Lentz, "On the Leopard Altar," 2006

Scope and Contents

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)