1960
C.K. Williams, A Day for Anne Frank
C.K. Williams’s first book, A Day for Anne Frank, is published Falcon Press, Philadelphia, 1968.
1960
1960
1960
Las Vegas Strip
In 1968, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown together with Steven Izenour, led a team of Yale students to document and analyze the Las Vegas Strip. In 1972, Venturi, Scott Brown and Izenour published the folio, A Significance for A&P Parking Lots, or Learning from Las Vegas later revised in 1977 as Learning from Las Vegas: the Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form using the student work as a foil for new theory. This second manifesto was an even more stinging rebuke to orthodox modernism and elite architectural tastes. The book coined the terms “Duck” and “Decorated Shed”--descriptions of the two predominant ways of embodying iconography in buildings.
1960
1960
Sun Ra in Germantown
Sun Ra and his Arkestra move to Morton Street in Germantown area of Philadelphia. Commute to New York by railroad for Monday night gigs at Slug’s. Sun Ra resides in Philadelphia the rest of his life. Dies May 30, 1993.
1960
Group Motion
Group Motion began in Philadelphia in 1968 as a contemporary modern dance company, pioneering the art form of multi-media dance theater. Originally founded in 1962 by Brigitta Herrmann, Hellmut Gottschild and Katharina Sehnert as a chamber dance company evolving from the Mary Wigman School of Dance, Gruppe Motion Berlin was one of very few modern dance companies in Germany at the time, performing throughout Germany and Europe. In 1967, the company was joined by Manfred Fischbeck for the creation of Countdown for Orpheus, their first multi-media production. In 1968, under the direction of Brigitta Hermann, Helmut Gottschild, and Manfred Fischbeck, the company relocated to Philadelphia and quickly received critical recognition by making historic appearances at Judson Church in New York in 1968, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1969, as well as joining the National Endowment for the Arts touring program in the 1970s. Gottschild left the company to found Zero Moving Company, while Fischbeck and Herrmann continued as co-directors. In 1972, Herrmann and Fischbeck created the Group Motion Workshop, an outgrowth of their work with Group Motion Multi Media Dance Theater.
1960
The Marconi Experiment
In the spring of 1968, Dave Herman convinces WMMR to produce The Marconi Experiment, a free-form FM format from 8 to midnight. Because of its success, the station changed to 24 hours of free-form a day in 1969.
1960
1960
1960
Locks Gallery Opens
Marian Locks Gallery opens 1800 block of Chestnut Street “an absurd space - 50 feet long, 7 1/2 feet wide.” Later Locks claims this long barrel vaulted space influenced Louis Kahn in his design of the Kimbel Museum in Houston.
1960
Phillip Simkin Performances
c. 1968-9 Phillip Simkin, Black Bag, inflatable environments in loft and at Tyler campus
Simkin, Material Distribution (1968)
Simkin, Felt Stripe Piece (1968), College Hall Green, University of Pennsylvania. 4000 feet upholstery tape and people. Illustrated Made in Philadelphia
1960
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1960
Rafael Ferrer, Three Leaf Pieces
December 4, 1968 Rafael Ferrer, Three Leaf Pieces, Leo Castelli Gallery (4 East 77th Street, 2 bags, 14 bushels of leaves), Castelli Warehouse (103 West 108th Street – staircase, 3 landings; 36 bushels of leaves), Dwan Gallery (29 West 57th Street – Elevator Piece). Assisted by Gerry H. Hovagimyan, Daniel Schnepps, and Alex Generalis. Generalis says Ferrer tells them they are doing “Guerrilla work.” Notoriety is great; four months later Dennis Oppenheim mentions this action in an interview with Patsy Norvell “I know a good part of the effect of some of the pieces done by some college students in Philadelphia come by second hand abstraction. Some students who dumped leaves inside of an elevator and did a few things really some nice pieces, and of course very few saw the work…[It was] just relayed by word of mouth. Maybe that’s how the new art’s going to get around. Word of Mouth.” Recording Conceptual Art, 2001 pg 24
Contribute to the Chronology
We welcome public contributions to this chronology! Please email Sid Sachs at ssachs@uarts.edu with a reference to your contribution.