Oral history interview with Al Hansen
name: label: Interviewee
content: Hansen, Al, 1927-1995
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
label: Names
content: Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students
label: Names
content: New School for Social Research  (New York, N.Y.) -- Students
label: Names
content: Pratt Institute -- Students
label: Names
content: Reuben Gallery
label: Names
content: Brecht, George
label: Names
content: Callahan, Harry M.
label: Names
content: Dine, Jim, 1935-
label: Names
content: Dunn, Bob
label: Names
content: Dunn, Judith
label: Names
content: Eisenhauer, Lette
label: Names
content: Goldfine, Pauline
label: Names
content: Groth, John, 1908-1988
label: Names
content: Higgins, Dick, 1938-1998
label: Names
content: Kaprow, Allan
label: Names
content: Karp, Ivan C., 1926-2012
label: Names
content: Mac Low, Jackson
label: Names
content: Maciunas, George, 1931-1978
label: Names
content: Marisol, 1930-2016
label: Names
content: McCarey, Don
label: Names
content: Moorman, Charlotte
label: Names
content: Müller, Jan, 1922-1958
label: Names
content: Nakian, Reuben, 1897-1986
label: Names
content: Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-
label: Names
content: Ortiz, Rafael Montanez
label: Names
content: Paik, Nam June, 1932-
label: Names
content: Poons, Larry
label: Names
content: Segal, George
label: Names
content: Smith, Tony, 1912-1980
label: Names
content: Vostell, Wolf, 1932-1998
label: Names
content: Waring, James, 1922-1975
label: Names
content: Watts, Robert, 1923-1988
topic: label: Topic
content: Fluxus (Group of artists)
label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Art -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Happenings (Art)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Hansen, Al, 1927-1995
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Al Hansen (1927-1995) was an artist from New York, New York. Founder of Fluxus art movement and one of the first Happenings artists.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Sound tape reels (Sound recording, 5 in.)
label: Extent
content: 112 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1973 November 6-13
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.hansen73
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound tape reels
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Interview of Al Hansen conducted 1973 November 6-13, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Hansen traces his personal history, recalling his childhood and early education in Queens; his service in the armed forces; and jobs he held in social work, advertising, off-Broadway theater, and art galleries. He describes taking classes with John Groth at the Art Students League in the 1940s; with Reuben Nakian at Pratt in the 1950s; and with John Cage at the New School in 1958. He also discusses the rise of New York as an art center; his interest in film; his involvement in experimental sound and music; his approach to creating Happenings and that of other artists; organizing poetry readings at the Epitome Coffee Shop; his Hershey bar wrapper collages; the writing of his book, "A Primer of Happenings and Space Time Art," (New York: Something Else Press 1965); his interactions with Fluxus and George Maciunas; participating in the "Below Zero" show at the Reuben Gallery in 1959; attending the Destruction In Art symposium in London in 1966; and his recent exhibitions in Germany. People he recalls include Tony Smith; Pauline Goldfine [ph]; Dick Higgins; Wolf Vostell; Larry Poons; Allan Kaprow; Claes Oldenburg; Don McCarey [ph]; Jim Dine; George Brecht; Jackson Mac Low; James Waring; Marisol Escobar; Ivan Karp; Bob Watts; George Segal; Judith Dunn; Bob Dunn; Jan Müller; Nam June Paik; Raphael Ortiz; Charlotte Moorman; and Lettie Lou Eisenhauer.