This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings &; Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
The collection documents projects by Ant Farm, the radical architecture group founded in 1968 by Chip Lord and Doug Michels. The collection includes a small selection of drawings, sketches, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera related to work produced between 1968 and 1978, in particular Cadillac Ranch (1974) and, to a lesser extent, Media Burn (1975). Correspondence with various publications and institutions in the 1970s, with art patron Stanley Marsh 3, and with Ant Farm member Doug Michels are of note. In addition, the collection includes more than 1,300 slides that document the group and its work, from early inflatables to the Pier 40 fire that destroyed the group's studio in 1978. Also included are legal and financial records that document licensed and unlicensed use of Ant Farm work—most of which concern Cadillac Ranch and Media Burn—beginning in the 1970s up through the 2000s.
The collection provides an interesting account of the legacy—including products, anniversary celebrations, exhibitions, lectures, and publications, as well as a short-lived restoration—of the group's work in the decades after disbanding. Some materials, gathered under Series V, document projects by Doug Michels, shared with Chip Lord. Scholars interested in individual Ant Farm projects are invited to consult the group's main archival holdings at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, CA) and the FRAC Centre (Orléans, France).
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings &; Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For additional guidance, see Columbia University Libraries' publication policy.
In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Chip Lord papers on Ant Farm, 1965-2014, Avery Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Archives and museums with related holdings on Ant Farm include:
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)
Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain de la Région Centre (FRAC Centre)
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA)
Source of acquisition--Charles L. Lord, Jr. and Curtis Schreier. Method of acquisition--Purchased;; Date of acquisition--2016. Accession number--2016.016.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
This collection was processed by Elliott Sturtevant (Graduate Intern), under the supervision of Shelley Hayreh, Avery Archivist, in 2017.
2017-03-20 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Ant Farm was founded by two architects, Doug Michels (1943-2003) and Chip Lord (1944-). The group was based in San Francisco and Houston and was active from 1968 to 1978. Inspired by the counterculture of the Bay Area, the group presented objects, events, and performances, often with an architectural component, recorded on video for dissemination. In keeping with the times, their work was intended as a criticism of American capitalism, mass media, and culture. The group disbanded after a fire destroyed their studio and most of their archive, in 1978.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Series I: Project Records contains drawings, collages, correspondence, photographs and other material related to Ant Farm projects undertaken between 1968 and 1978. In addition, this series includes material documenting successive editions of 42MAR0, the Ant Farm Timeline, a self-published survey of the group's work that eventually framed the 2004 retrospective organized by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive [editions of the timeline have since been published in Felicity D. Scott, Living Archive 7: Ant Farm (Barcelona; New York, NY: Actar, 2008) and Constance Lewallen, ed. Ant Farm, 1968-1978 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2004)].
Subseries I: Projects contains all the project records, arranged in chronological order, with the exception of Cadillac Ranch, which is the subject Series II. Media Burn, the 1975 media event at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA, in which two "artist dummies" drove the Phantom Dream Car through a wall of flaming television sets, is represented in slightly greater detail with a few drawings, photographs, and select ephemera from the event. In most instances, material pertaining to individual projects is limited.
Box 01 Folder 01
Prints of digital image files : 3 items
Box 01 Folder 02
8" x 10" photograph : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 03
Sketches; correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; Inflatocookbook (1971) : 1 item; Inflatocookbook (1973) : 1 item; loose sheets from Inflatocookbook (1971) : 3 items; large photographs : 3 items; small photographs of Ant Farm's "big pillow" at free Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway, CA (December 1969) : 11 items; prints of photographs by Lawrence Fong of Roman Coppola's inflatable for Toyota Prius TV ad (2003) : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 04
Bound booklets, proposal by Ant Farm for Expo '70 : 2 items; additional loose sheets
Box 01 Folder 05
Xerox of Sharon Lee Ryder, "From the folks who gave you 20-20 vision: After cadillac fins, video tape, time capsules and ferro-cement houses, Ant Farm's last two projects use ordinary materials for other than ordinary design," Progressive Architecture 56 (September 1975): 64-67; small photograph : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 01
18" x 24" drawing, 1971 Sep 20 : 1 item; 18" x 24" "Kansas Rocket" drawing : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 06
Xeroxes; sketches; clippings; large photographs : 2 items; medium photograph, captioned "Dome kit in the warehouse, Sausalito, 1970" : 1 item; Truckstop Network placemat [folded] : 1 item
Oversize 03
"Top Value Television" and "Coastside Enviro-Education Forum" posters : 2 items; Truckstop Network placemats : 4 items
Box 01 Folder 07
Xeroxes; clippings; large photograph : 1 item; small photographs, 1971-72 [previously kept in small photo album]: 13 items; slides : 6 items; print : 1 item; print captioned "1973 'Model'" : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 02
24" x 36" diazo print, sent by Doug Michels to Curtis Schreier with "Mr Fureal" rubber stamp impression : 1 item; sketches by Doug Michels : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 08
Xeroxes; medium photographs of Time Capsule opening (2000) : 19 items; Ant Farm Time Capsule 1972-1984 patch : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 09
Large photographs : 2 items; small photographs : 2 items
Drawer 116 Folder 15
Poster : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 10
11" x 47" drawing by Curtis Schreier and Doug Michels [folded] : 1 item; posters : 3 items; Xeroxes; leaflets; large photrographs : 3 items; medium photographs : 17 items; small photograph : 1 item; Polaroid : 1 item; negatives
Drawer 116 Folder 03
Poster : 1 item
Oversize 03
"CalendarLOG" : 3 items; Xerox
Box 01 Folder 11
Xeroxes of "a ferrocement construction guide"
Box 01 Folder 12
Xeroxes and clippings for "Antioch Visual Arts Building Feedback Survey"; photograph : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 13
Xeroxes; clippings; note
Drawer 116 Folder 04
Drawing : 1 item; prints : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 15
Xerox and clippings of Sharon Lee Ryder, "From the folks who gave you 20-20 vision: After cadillac fins, video tape, time capsules and ferro-cement houses, Ant Farm's last two projects use ordinary materials for other than ordinary design," Progressive Architecture 56 (September 1975): 64-67; small photograph : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 05
18" x 24" drawing : 1 item; 24" x 36" drawing, 3 May 1974 : 1 item; 18" x 24" drawing, 3 Aug 1974 : 1 item; 24" x 36" drawing, 6 Dec 1974 : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 16
Xeroxes; clippings; notes
Box 01 Folder 17
Xeroxes; Xeroxes of drawings [1 hand colored item]
Drawer 116 Folder 06
24" x 36" drawings for "Old Mill Valley Library" and "Photo Lab" : 2 items
Box 04 Folder 01
Collage : 1 item; correspondence; Xeroxes; Media Burn postcards, 1st printing, photo by John F. Turner (1975) : 10 items; Media Burn postcards : 3 items; "Media Burn: July 4 1975, Cow Palace, San Francisco" souvenir booklet : 1 item; "Media Burn: July 4, 1975" stickers : 5 items
Box 04 Folder 02
8 x 10" photograph by Diane Andrews Hall (1975) : 2 items; 5 x 7" photograph by Diane Andrews Hall : 1 item; 4 x 6" photographs by Diane Andrews Hall : 20 items; contact sheet by Diane Andrews Hall : 1 item; 8 x 0" photograph by Kim Ecclesine (1975) : 1 item; 8 x 10" photograph by Gary Fong : 1 item; 8 x 10" photograph by Norton Pearl Photography : 1 item; 8 x 10" photographs by Edmund Shea (1975) : 4 items; 5 x 8" photographs by Edmund Shea (1975) : 1 items; contact sheets by Edmund Shea (1975) : 10 items; 8 x 10" photograph by Robt. Ward Associates (1975) : 1 item; 8 x 10" photographs : 19 items; 5 x 7" photographs : 4 items; small photographs : 4 items
Box 04 Folder 03
Contact sheets : 5 items; negative by John F. Turner : 1 item; photostats : 6 items; transparencies : 6 items; Xeroxes
Box 04 Folder 04
Correspondence; Xeroxes; faxes; invoices; postcards : 2 items
Box 04 Folder 05
Clippings; Xeroxes; leaflet : 1 item; postcard : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 07
24" x 26" site plan : 1 item; Phantom Dream Car drawing : 1 item; mock-up sketch : 1 item; 20" x 24" concept collage : 1 item; metal proof printing plates for Media Burn souvenir booklet : 2 items; Media Burn 40th anniversary print : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 18
Xeroxes; clippings; "Doug Hall as the Artist-President, The Eternal Frame, by T. R. Uthco & Ant Farm" photograph by Diane Hall : 1 item; medium photograph pasted onto loose sheet: 1 item; "Assassination Scene, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy" postcard : 1 item; "President Kennedy's Assasination and Memorial Site, Dallas, Texas" postcard : 1 item; firstdraft: The Newsletter of the Getty Research Institute no. 6 (Fall 2007) : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 08
Poster : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 19
Xeroxes; survey forms : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 20
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; notes with inventories of items in time capsules; small photographs : 4 items; Polaroid pasted onto clippings : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 21
Xerox; negatives : 2 items; Ant Farm (written by Chip Lord, designed by Chip Lord and Curtis Schreier), Automerica: A trip down U.S. highways from World War II to the future (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1976) : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 09
Drawing : 1 item; clippings
Box 01 Folder 22
Xeroxes; medium photograph : 1 item; small photographs : 2 items; Polaroids : 3 items; contact sheet : 1 item; slides : 9 items
Box 01 Folder 23
Xeroxes; clippings; diagram
Drawer 116 Folder 16
Poster for Ant Farm trip to Australia in 1976 : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 24
Sketches; correspondence, including items addressed to "Bill Bradan" for "professional design services on the production of 'He Wants Her Back'"; Xeroxes, including drawing of "Native American Heritage Pavilion 1968" by Chip Lord; clippings; Polaroids : 4 items
Box 01 Folder 25
11" x 45" blueprint [folded] : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 10
24" x 36" drawing by Curis Schreier : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 25
Sketches; correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; notes; "The Cadillac Ranch" postcards : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 26
Xeroxes & clippings, mock-up of book proposal
Box 01 Folder 27
Bound copy of 42MAR0, mock-up of book proposal with pasted photographs and postcards
Box 01 Folder 28
Bound Xerox copy of 42MAR0
Box 01 Folder 29
Xeroxes of 42MAR0 with additional pages from the portfolios of 2020 VISION and Media Burn
Box 01 Folder 30
Sketches; Xeroxes; clippings; photographs : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 31
Xeroxes; collages [material previously housed in folder labelled "process 2002-2003 in preparation for the exhibition Ant Farm 1968-78"]
Drawer 116 Folder 11
21" x 30" drawing : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 32
11" x 17" print [folded] : 1 item; clipping; negatives : 4 items
Subseries II: Other Work includes collages for and Xeroxes of Ant Farm handouts, mail art, a collaborative "sketchbook" that was left on the dining table in the Ant Farm warehouse, four "letterpress items printed by Curtis Schreier," copies of Ant Farm postcards, and other miscellaneous material.
Box 01 Folder 33
Correspondence; Xeroxes; collages, includes material related to Enviroman, Electronic Oasis, Inflatables, 20:20 Vision, and others [21 items in individual plastic sleeves previously housed in folder titled "Original Ant Farm Handouts"]
Oversize 03
"This was an open collaborative sketchbook kept on the dining table in the Ant Farm warehouse (247 Gate 5 Road, Sausalito, CA). Contributions by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, Doug Michels, and less frequently Curtis Schreier and others," scrapbook : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 12
National Geographic Evolution diagram updated by Doug Michels (1972) : 2 items; Trabant Shrine (Hiroshima, Japan) drawing by Doug Michels sent to Chip Lord (1990) : 1 item; sketch : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 34
Xeroxes; sketches, includes undated material related to Media Burn
Box 01 Folder 35
4 items
Box 01 Folder 36
Collages, includes material related to Playboy proposal, Time Slice, and other projects [material consolidated from folders titled "Ant Farm Good Stuff," "Ant Farm Original Art," and others]; Xeroxes; clippings; large photograph : 1 item; small photograph : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 37
"'52 Pontiac," photo by Chip Lord : 7 items; "T.V. Head at Chuckberger's Restaurant, San Leandro," photo by Jules Backus, 1980, styled by Chip Lord : 1 item; "The Eternal Frame by Ant Farm & T.R. Uthco," photo by Diane Hall : 1 item; "Thunderocket" : 4 items; Media Burn postcards : 2 items
Series II: Cadillac Ranch contains ephemera, correspondence, clippings, and photographs that document the life of Ant Farm's perhaps best known work, created in 1974 on art patron Stanley Marsh 3's property, near Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas. The series is divided into six subseries.
Subseries 1: Correspondence includes over two decades of correspondence with Cadillac Ranch sponsor Stanley Marsh 3.
Box 01 Folder 38
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; Polaroid : 1 item; postcards : 2 items
Oversize 02
Correspondence; envelopes
Box 02 Folder 01
Correspondence, includes sketches by Doug Michels for Cadillac Ranch National Monument plaque; Xeroxes
Subseries 2: Legal and Financial Records documents the licensed and unlicensed use of Cadillac Ranch and related royalties, and includes correspondence with various law firms as well as the Curtis Management Group.
Box 02 Folder 02
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; medium photographs : 6 items
Box 02 Folder 03
Correspondence
Box 02 Folder 04
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; medium photographs : 2 items
Box 02 Folder 05
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; medium photograph : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 06
Correspondence; Xeroxes
Box 02 Folder 07
Correspondence; Xeroxes; leaflets; business card : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 08
Correspondence; Xeroxes; postcard : 1 item
Subseries 3: Legacy documents tenth and twentieth anniversary celebrations held in 1984 and 1994, the creation of the Cadillac Ranch logo, the development of the Cadillac Ranch movie, the Hampton Inn hotel chain-sponsored "restoration" in 2002, and the matte black repainting of Cadillac Ranch to mark the passing of Doug Michels in 2003.
Box 02 Folder 09
Xeroxes; notes; collages
Box 02 Folder 10
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings
Drawer 116 Folder 13
Poster : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 11
Correspondence; Xeroxes; script
Box 02 Folder 12
Correspondence; notes; Xeroxes; clippings; leaflets; postcards : 3 items
Box 02 Folder 13
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; photographs : 40 items; postcard : 1 item; stickers
Box 02 Folder 14
Sketches; correspondence; Xeroxes; large photographs : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 15
Correspondence; Xeroxes
Box 02 Folder 16
Clippings; Xeroxes; medium photographs : 30 items; small photograph (June 1995) : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 17
Correspondence; Xeroxes; "The Texas Postcard Company" catalog : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 18
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; medium photographs : 21 items [one photograph affixed to original folder]; On the Road with Hampton vol. 2 no. 3 (2002) : 2 items; postcards : 2 items [one postcard affixed to original folder]
Oversize 03
Drawing : 1 item; Xeroxes
Box 02 Folder 19
Correspondence; Xeroxes; large photographs by Philip Periman : 18 items; medium photographs by Philip Periman : 3 items
Subseries 4: Printed Material includes a substantial collection (arranged by decade) of newspaper and magazine clippings related to Cadillac Ranch, a bound copy of Xeroxed press clippings and Cadillac Ranch-related correspondence produced by the group for the work's twentieth anniversary, and various advertisements, postcards, posters, and publications featuring images of Cadillac Ranch.
Box 02 Folder 20
Xeroxes; medium photograph : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 21
Xeroxes, bound
Box 02 Folder 22
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; postcards
Box 02 Folder 23
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings
Box 02 Folder 24
Clippings & Xeroxes, arranged in chronological order
Box 02 Folder 25
Clippings & Xeroxes, arranged in chronological order
Box 02 Folder 26
Clippings & Xeroxes, arranged in chronological order
Box 02 Folder 27
Clippings & Xeroxes, arranged in chronological order
Box 02 Folder 28
Clippings; Xeroxes
Box 02 Folder 29
Clippings; Xeroxes; posters
Box 01 Folder 39
Large posters : 2 items
Drawer 116 Folder 13
Poster : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 30
"the ultimate roadside attraction," calendar by Roth and Ramberg Photography : 2 items; Postcard booklet, photographs by Wyatt McSpadden : 4 items; Cadillac Ranch postcard, photograph by Buddy Moffet : 6 items; "MAD CAD" postcard, featuring 1960 Cadillac Sedan de Ville created by California artist Larry Fuente, photograph by Louie Psihoyos : 1 item; "The Cadillac Ranch" postcard, published by Marsh Media, Amarillo, TX : 5 items; "The Cadillac Ranch," photograph by Chip Lord, 1978 : 1 item; "The Cadillac Ranch," photograph by Wyatt McSpadden, 1979 : 7 items; "The Cadillac Ranch," photograph by Ant Farm : 5 items
Box 04 Folder 06
The Big Car Show: Contemporary Visions of the Automobile (1985) : 3 items; Texas Monthly (July 1994) : 1 item; Interior Design no. 10 (August 1994) : 1 item; On the Road with Hampton vol. 2 no. 3 (2002) : 4 items; Route 66 Magazine vol. 9 no. 2 (Spring 2002); Amarillo Visitor Guide (2015);
Drawer 116 Folder 13
"20th Anniversary Limitied Edition, Cadillac Ranch" print, photo by Jefferies : 1 item; poster, Wyatt McSpadden at Cityplace, Dallas, Texas, 4 October 2006 : 1 item
Subseries 5: Photographs includes prints and negatives of photographs by Chip Lord, Peter de Lory, Wyatt McSpadden, and others.
Box 01 Folder 40
8.5 x 12.5 photographs pasted on card : 3 items
Box 02 Folder 31
Medium photographs pasted on paper (1974?) : 3 items; 8 x 10" photograph by Wyatt McSpadden (1975) : 1 item; medium photographs by Judy Ahern Salsich (1977) : 2 items, correspondence dated 4 August 2009; 4.5 x 6.5" photograph by Craig Stecyk (1978) : 1 item; 5 x 7" photographs by Chip Lord (1981) : 7 items, 8 x 10" photographs by Chip Lord (1981) : 6 items, negative, receipt; 2 x 2.75" proof by Skypix Aerial Photography Inc. (12 April 1983) : 1 item; 3.5 x 5" photographs by "C. Jackson" (February 1990) : 13 items; Contact sheets by Peter de Lory (January 1993) : 3 items; 4 x 6" photograph of German poster featuring Cadillac Ranch : 1 item; 4 x 6" photgraphs (12 August 1998) : 3 items; Polaroids with captions (1999) : 3 items; 4 x 6" photograph, Cadillac Ranch Thirtieth Anniversary party (21 June 2004): 1 item; Cadillac Ranch Thirtieth Anniversary, 2 CDs and 18 contact sheets by Wendy Marsh (21 June 2004); Xeroxes
Box 02 Folder 32
3.5 x 4.5" holographic prints : 2 items; Polaroids : 3 items; 8 x 10" photograph : 1 item; 3.5 x 3.5" photographs : 3 items (1 cropped); 8 x 10" photographs, one labelled "1984 Hard Rock Cafe battle" : 2 item; 8 x 10" photograph : 1 item; 8 x 10" photographs by Wyatt McSpadden : 2 item; 3 x 4.5" color negative : 1 item; 3 1/8 x 4 5/8" photographs : 3 items; 4 x 6 " photograph of Cadillac Ranch-like ad for Absolut Vodka : 1 item Xeroxes
Drawer 116 Folder 13
"Ant Farm, The New Generation" : 1 item; 8 x 10" photograph by Taylor Wampler (1987) : 1 item; 10 x 14" photograph with postcard affixed on top : 1 item
Subseries 6: Artifacts contains Cadillac Ranch-related ephemera.
Box 04 Folder 17
Cadillac Ranch baseball cap : 1 item; Cadillac Ranch mug : 1 item; Cadillac Ranch shot glass : 1 item; "Cadillac Ranch: In Steak We Trust" matchbooks : 2 items; "Route 66: Main Street of America" vanity license plate : 1 item; Cadillac Ranch swizzle stick : 1 item; child's drawing of Cadillac Ranch : 1 item; "Cadillac-station" coaster : 1 item; business cars : 2 items [items also found in adjacent box]
Series III: Ant Farm papers contains correspondence and publications related to the group's work and subsequent activities after the group disbanded in 1978.
Subseries 1: Correspondence> includes requests and inquiries sent to the group from a variety of individuals, publications, universities, and cultural institutions, and a collection of correspondence from Ant Farm member Doug Michels.
Box 03 Folder 01
Correspondence, includes sketches by Doug Michels; Xeroxes; clippings
Box 03 Folder 02
Correspondence, includes sketches by Doug Michels; Xeroxes; clippings
Box 03 Folder 03
Correspondence, includes sketches by Doug Michels; Xeroxes; clippings; medium photograph : 1 item; postcards : 3 items
Box 03 Folder 04
Emails; faxes
Box 03 Folder 05
Correspondence, includes letters from Experiments in Art and Technology, The Rockeller Foundation, The Museum of Modern Art, Architectural Design, and others [items in plastic sleeves, previously kept in white three-ring binder]; clippings; business card : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 06
Correspondence, includes letters from various universities, publishers, such as Design Quarterly, Archigram, Experiments in Art and Technology, l'Architecture d'aujourd'hui, Environmental Communications, Lawrence Halprin & Associates, and others [items in plastic sleeves, previously kept in white three-ring binder]
Box 03 Folder 07
Correspondence, includes letters from Playboy, Esquire, New Times, Vincent Scully, and others; Xeroxes; clippings; business card : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 08
Correspondence, includes letters from The Museum of Modern Art, and others; Xeroxes
Box 03 Folder 09
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings; postcards : 2 items
Subseries 2: Legal and Financial Records includes correspondence with various law firms regarding licensing and royalties, and correspondence with distributors, including Art Metropole, Electronic Arts Intermix, and the Video Data Bank.
Box 03 Folder 10
Bank statements for THE PUBLIC EYE INC ANT FARM PROJECT, 141 10th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103; invoices
Box 03 Folder 11
Bank statements for THE PUBLIC EYE INC ANT FARM PROJECT, 141 10th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103-2604, and THE PUBLIC EYE INC ANT FARM PROJECT, 2082 Cesar Chavez, San Francisco, CA, 94131-1919; invoices
Box 03 Folder 12
Checks no. 119-121 for Ant Farm Video, 994 Union Street, San Francisco, CA, 94133 : 3 items; checks no. 143-145 for Ant Farm, Inc. Book Account, 247 Gate 5 Road, Sausalito, CA, 94965 : 3 items
Box 03 Folder 13
Correspondence, including MoMA, and Ripley's Believe It Or Not
Box 03 Folder 14
Correspondence, includes correspondence with Law Offices of Lewis, Moore & Patrick; Law Offices of Birch, Stewart, Kolasch and Birch; Boasberg & Norton Attorneys at Law; Battle & Battle; and Law Offices of Matthew S. Watson
Box 03 Folder 15
Correspondence; Xeroxes; Art Metropole Catalogue no. 16 (1993); drawing, "A '59 Buick becomes a video playback environment" : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 16
Correspndence; leaflets
Box 03 Folder 17
Catalog : 1 item; leaflet : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 18
Correspondence
Subseries 3: Legacy documents a proposed Ant Farm retrospective in the late 80s, a proposed Ant Farm CD, the possible inclusion of The Eternal Frame in a Voyager Press videodisc/videocassette project, a restoration project with the Pacific Film Archive, and acquisitions by the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Berkeley Art Museum, and the Tate.
Box 03 Folder 19
Xeroxes
Box 03 Folder 20
Correspondence, with Otis College of Art and Design, Oakland Museum, Virginia Commonwealth University, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; Xeroxes; sketches
Box 03 Folder 21
Correspondence, regarding inclusion of "The Eternal Frame" in Voyager Press videodisc/cassette project "Persistence of Vision: An Anthology of Artists' Work"; leaflets
Box 03 Folder 22
Medium photographs : 36 items; negatives; invitations : 4 items
Box 03 Folder 23
Correspondence; Xeroxes; clippings
Box 03 Folder 24
Correspondence, includes letter from the National Gallery of Canada; Xeroxes, includes material from folder previously labelled "AF Video"; notes
Box 03 Folder 25
Correspondence, regarding material in 2001 exhibition, "Pop Architecture"; Xeroxes; leaflet; business card; notes
Box 03 Folder 26
Xeroxes, captioned prints of slides in "Pratt Institute, Art and Architecture Department Library Slide Collection, Brooklyn, NY 11205" : 37 items
Box 03 Folder 27
Correspondence, regarding material in 2004 exhibiton, "Ant Farm: 1968-1978"; Xeroxes; clippings
Box 03 Folder 28
Correspondence; Xeroxes; leaflets; DVD containing high resolution images of Ant Farm works in the collection of the FRAC Centre : 1 item
Box 04
DVD containing digital image files of drawings acquired by the FRAC
Box 03 Folder 29
Correspondence, regarding acquisition of The Eternal Frame; Xeroxes; notes
Subseries 4: Printed Material includes copies of publications with contributions by Ant Farm members, copies and Xeroxes of articles or publications on Ant Farm's work, and newspaper and magazine clippings.
Oversize 01
Radical Software no. 4 (Summer 1971), cover designed by Ant Farm; as well as copies of Radical Software no. 1 (Summer 1970); Radical Software no. 2 (Spring 1970); Radical Software no. 3 (Spring 1971)
Oversize 01
Ant Farm, "Bulletin! 13 Out of 40 S.F. TV Sets Leak Radiation," City of San Francisco, vol. 9 no. 5 (August 3, 1975): 25, 26-27; "obituary," WET (July/August 1979): 19 : 2 items; Ant Farm, "Ant Farm-Chip Lord/Curtis Schreier," Video im Abenland (Decmeber 1979): 26-27; Chip Lord, VIDEO vol. 1 no. 1 (1980): 9, page 8/9 is missing; Chip Lord, "Abscam: Video In Crime & Justice," VIDEO, vol. 2 no. 1 (Fall 1981): 20, and Curtis Schreier, "Telly Vision," VIDEO vol. 2 no. 1 (Fall 1981): 45
Oversize 01
Ellin Stein, "Ant Farm: From the Folks who Brought You the Cadillac Ranch," Boulevards (September 1980): 23-25; Tom Diehl, "Ant Farm in Houston, 1969-1973," and Mary Le Johnson, "House of the Century," Cite: The Architecture and Design Review of Houston 31 (Winter-Spring 1994): 32-36, 37, includes letter addressed to Ant Farm from Thomas R. Diehl; Jessica Kedward-Sanchez, "Screen Test", firstdraft 6 (Fall 2007): 22-28; Friedrich von Borries, Klimakapseln: Überlebensbedingungen in der Katastrophe (Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2010); "Ant Farm/T.R. Uthco," VIDEO/TV: HUMOR/COMEDY (n.d.): 15
Box 04 Folder 07
Xeroxes of William Chaitkin, "Alternatives," in Architecture Today, ed. by Charles Jencks (New York : H. N. Abrams, 1982); Robert and Linda Mitchell, "Tail Fins Forever (Or, Anyone Who Names His Zebra 'Spot' Can't Be All Bad)," in Folk Art in Texas, ed. by Francis Edward Abernethy (Dallas : Southern Methodist University Press, 1985), 26-29; Art Simon, "Assassination Video," in Dangerous Knowledge: The JFK Assassination in Art and Film (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press: 1996); Johannes Birringer, "Burn Media Burn: (Texas) Video Art," ArtLies no. 25 (Winter 1999/2000): 9-15; Caroline Maniaque, "En quête de légèreté / In Search of Lightness," in Air-air: Celebrating Inflatables, ed. by Marie-Ève Mestre and Stéphane Magnin (Monaco: Grimaldi Forum, 2000), 119-149; draft of Patricia Mellencamp, "Ant Farm Redux: Pyrotechnics and Emergence," (October 2004); Ernest Larsen, "Junky and Important: The Collective Model in the Rearview Mirror," American Quarterly 57.1 (2005): 223-236; and others
Box 04 Folder 08
Xerox of Mark Joseph Petr, "Ant Farm, the Art World and the Counter Culture of the 1960s" (Master's Thesis, The University of Texas at Austin, May, 1991)
Box 04 Folder 09
Xerox of Patrick Maguire, "Terminal Structures: Ant Farm's Cadillac Ranch, 1974" (Master's Thesis, The University of Utah, August, 2014)
Box 04 Folder 10
Clippings, includes articles on Stanley Marsh 3, Milton Levine, Ant Farm, and others
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Clippings
Subseries 5: Photographs includes a collection of candid photographs of Ant Farm members, friends, and acquaintances taken between 1968 and 1978.
Box 03 Folder 30
8 x 10" photograph, captioned "Doug Michels" : 1 item; 8 x 10" photograph of Kennedy Space Center by NASA (1968) : 1 item; 8 x 10" photograph of of "Frankstein Must Be Destroyed!" by Warner Bros, Inc. (1970) : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 31
Small photographs : 60 items; postcard : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 32
Bound prints of digital image files and transcripts of select press releases and articles
Subseries 6: Artifacts contains a copy of Milton Martin Levine's Ant: Facts and Fantasies.
Box 03 Folder 33
Milton Martin Levine, Ant: Facts and Fantasies (1970) : 1 item; clipping
Subseries 7: Lectures and Exhibitions documents lectures given by Ant Farm members and exhibitions of Ant Farm's work through posters, catalogs, leaflets, and other printed matter.
Drawer 116 Folder 14
Poster : 1 item
Drawer 116 Folder 13
Poster : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 34
Catalogue : 1 item, "Collaborators: Artists Working Together in Houston 1969-1986"
Box 03 Folder 35
Leaflet : 1 item, "Ant Farm, 1971-77"
Box 03 Folder 36
Correspondence; leaflet
Box 03 Folder 37
Leaflet
Box 03 Folder 38
Correspondence; leaflets : 2 items: invitations : 2 items
Box 03 Folder 39
Xeroxes; clippings; leaflets : 2 items; University of California Press catalogue (Spring 2004) : 1 item
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Xeroxes; clippings; poster; leaflet
Box 03 Folder 40
Press package; leaflets; invitation : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 41
Postcards : 2 items
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Xeroxes; clippings; postcard : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 42
Leaflet : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 43
Correspondence; Xeroxes; leaflets : 2 items
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Xeroxes; leaflet; Constructs, Yale Architecture (Fall 2005)
Box 03 Folder 44
Xerox; clipping
Drawer 116 Folder 14
Poster : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 45
Correspondence; clipping; postcards : 3 items; leaflets : 3 items
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Xerox of newspaper clipping
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Clippings
Box 03 Folder 46
Xeroxes; postcards : 3 items
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Xeroxes; poster
Box 03 Folder 47
"Ant Farm Redux" postcards : 2 items
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"Ant Farm: Radical Hardware" poster : 1 item; leaflet : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 48
Correspondence; notes; postcard : 1 item; photograph pasted on loose sheet captioned "Deputy Dingus of Avant Garde Security Services on duty at Pier 40, San Francisco" : 1 item
Box 03 Folder 49
Press package, "Mind Expanders: Performative Bodies – Utopian Architectures around 1968"; leaflets
Box 03 Folder 50
Xeroxes; see also [Centre Georges Pompidou, acquisition]
Box 03 Folder 51
Postcard : 1 item
Series IV: Slides and Videos includes over 1,300 slides and 11 DVDs, including complete sets of Ant Farm's three "slidesets" distributed by Environmental Communications.
Subseries 1: Slides contains all the slides, as well as two issues of Environmental Communications.
Box 05 Folder 01
Slides : 26 items [two slides numbered #26]
Box 05 Folder 02
Slides : 68 items [includes duplicate of slide #32]
Box 05 Folder 03
Slides : 44 items
Box 05 Folder 04
Catalogues : 2 items
Box 05 Folder 05
Slides, includes slides of Cadillac Ranch, Media Burn, Citizen's Time Capsule, inflatables, Time Slice, House of Century, Living Room of the Future, Convention City, Antioch Art Building, Bluestar, The Eternal Frame, and others, slides by Chip Lord, Philip Makanna, Jules Backus, Shellee Graham, D. LuAnn Brandt, and others [previously housed in unmarked blue binder] : 176 items
Box 05 Folder 06
Slides : 163 items ("Newman Media Room [orig.] remodeling 1971-72" : 9 items; "Poole remodel [orig.] 1974" : 8 items; " HDXB Idea Lounge [orig.]" : 10 items; "Media Van [orig.]" : 22 items; "TVTV in Miami 1972" : 1 item; "Truckstop" : 2 items; "Ant Farm mics. models" : 23 items; "141 10th St. Ideas in Motion studio 1980-90 post-1978 fire" : 8 items; "Pier 40 Ant Farm studio 1973-78 before fire" : 22 items; "Pier 40 studio after the fire" : 23 items; "Convention City 1972" : 35 items)
Box 05 Folder 07
Slides : 187 items ("Expedition Delphin 1977, Baja, CA" : 17 items; "Weingberg loft Chicago 1977, Lord & Schreier" : 10 items; "Roadside America" : 13 items; "Inflato & parachutes orignals" : 50 items; "Inflatable dupes & E.C. series" : 11 items; "Domes" : 22 items; "House of the Century originals" : 53 items; "Dupes of Richard Jost slides," slides of House of the Century : 11 items)
Box 05 Folder 08
Slides : 93 items ("Antioch Art Building, 'Best'" : 20 items; "Antioch Art Building, 'Not the best'" : 50 items; "Misc. dupes," includes slides of Media Burn, Dolphin Embassy, Cadillac Ranch, inflatables, and others : 23 items)
Box 06 Folder 01
Slides : 201 items ("Media Burn," set #1, includes slides by John F. Turner, and others : 20 items; "Media Burn," set #2, includes slides by Bill Harlan, and others : 20 items; "Media Burn," set #3, includes slides by Diane A. Hall, Bill Harlan, and others : 20 items; "Media Burn," set #4 : 8 items; "Media Burn," set #5, includes slides by Philip Makanna, John F. Turner, and others : 18 items; "Save the Planets 1986, Lord, Marquez, Michels" : 23 items; "Artpark Citizen's Time Capsule 1975-2000," set #1 : 75 items; "Artpark Citizen's Time Capsule 1975-2000," set #2 : 17 items)
Box 06 Folder 02
Slides : 139 items ("The Eternal Frame" : 36 items; "Cadillac Ranch 10th Anniversary" : 44 items; "Cadillac Ranch acquisition" : 14 items; "Cadillac Ranch installation, June 16-20, 1974" : 17 items; "Cadillac Ranch video production, June 1974" : 12 items; "Cadillac Ranch opening party, June 21, 1974" : 16 items)
Box 06 Folder 03
Slides : 169 items ("Cadillac Ranch evolution" : 111 items; "Cadillac Ranch, Bud Lee" : 11 items; "Early Ant Farm Art: Environman Events, Electronic Oasis" : 43 items; "100 TVs & Beyond Things Past" : 4 items)
Box 06 Folder 04
Slides : 156 items ("People: Ant Farm in Costume & with Cars" : 56 items; "Time Capsules" : 10 items; "7 Car Pile-cup, Artists Soapbox Derby, SFMOMA, 1975" : 8 items; "1969 Enviroimages" : 19 items; "Aerosol Arsenal, 1975" : 8 items; "TV Radiation Survey, 1975" : 9 items; "20:20 Vision exhibition" : 46 items)
Subseries 2:Videos includes the DVDs, as well as two reels of original 16mm film.
[RESTRICTION: Please note, all time-based media in the collection is currently closed pending preservation work.]
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16 mm film reel.
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4 DVD copies of 16mm film: "Filmed by Kelly Gloger. 22:30 min. High quality film to dvcam video transfer at Monaco Lab, San Francisco, Sept. 2006. Archival, unedited film content with a head title added by Chip Lord, 2006"
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DVD, "1973 project, promotional video sent to developer in Houston, TX," 9:00 min : 1 item
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DVDs, "Classics of video art from the 1970's by the notorious Art and Architecture group: Cadillac Ranch 1974/1994, Media Burn, Ant Farm's Dirty Dishes, Inflatables Illustrated, World's Longest Bridge, Time Capsule 1972-1984, OFF-AIR Australia" : 2 copies
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DVD, "Ant Farm Truckstop Network & Truckstop Tour Video: Sausalito Slide Show, Scottsdale Hilton, Ant Farm Documentation, Apollo 17, Media Van at Tulane, World's Longest Bridge, and Johnny Romeo at Yale" : 1 item
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DVD, "Burial video: 13:50 min; Shot: Sept. 7, 1975; Edited: 2010 by Chip Lord" : 1 item
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DVD, "A film by Laura Harrison & Elizabeth Federici, www.antfarmthemovie.com" : 1 item
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16mm film, "Film by Jane Aaron" : 1 item
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DVD, "Doug Michels video clips, 6:30," includes footage from Truckstop Tour (1971), 100 Television Sets (1972), Time Capsule 1972-84 (1972, 2000), The Eternal Frame (1975), Cadillac Ranch, 10th Anniversary (1984) : 1 item
Series V: Doug Michels papers contains material produced by or published on Ant Farm co-founder Doug Michels. This includes the script for Brainwave, a feature film based on the Dolphin Embassy concept, and material on Michels' Bluestar project, a space station occupied by humans and dolphins, as well as various documents relating to trips taken to Australia and Japan. This series also contains obituaries published in newspapers and magazines collected by Chip Lord following Michels' sudden, tragic death on June 12, 2003.
Box 04 Folder 11
Xeroxes; clippings; small photograph : 1 item
Box 04 Folder 12
Xeroxes, includes reproductions of correspondence, magazine and newspaper articles, press releases, photographs, and sketches
Box 04 Folder 13
Brainwave, a film by Alexandra Morphett and Doug Michels, screenplay by Tony Morphett (Brainwave Productions Ltd., 1977)
Box 04 Folder 14
Correspondence, includes letter addressed to Chip Lord; Xeroxes; clippings; slide : 1 item; The Futurist (January/February 1987) : 1 item; business cards : 2 items
Box 04 Folder 15
Xeroxes; clippings
Box 04 Folder 16
Clippings; postcard : 1 item; Peter Eichenlaub, "Doug Michels (1943-2003)," Texas Architect (September/October 2003): 20,58; Chip Lord, "Remembering Doug Michels," arcCA 03.3 (2003): 56; Michael Sorkin, "Of dolphins, comedy, and architecture: Remembering Doug Michels and Ant Farm," Architectural Record 9 (2003): 83-84
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Nina Rappaport, et al. "Tributes to Doug Michels," Constructs, Yale Architecture (Fall 2003): 27