Dick Higgins Archive

This archive provides documentation for all periods of the life and work of Dick Higgins, including family photographs from his childhood and his early writing from the 1950s; extensive research notes, drafts, graphics, photographs, texts, musical notation, production materials, interviews, and correspondence related to his published and unpublished works from 1960-1998; and files and correspondence related to Fluxus events in which Higgins participated between 1991 and 1998.

The archive has been organized according to the divisions Higgins himself made, and his topics and folder contents have been retained, even if there appear to be idiosyncracies. Broad categories include production materials and correspondence related to published works (1959-1997); unpublished materials (1959-1998); general correspondence and subjects (1980-1998); miscellaneous course and education files (1962-1978); Fluxevents and correspondence (1991-1998); photographs, albums, oversize graphics, broadsides, and scrapbooks (1900-1998); videotapes (1962-1992); computer diskettes (1985-1997); and his active files for projects and correspondence (1982-1998), including statements, interviews, and manifestoes.

Correspondence files include letters or printed emails from: Eric Andersen, Bengt af Klintberg, John Cage, Ugo Carrega, Francesco Conz, Charles Doria, Ulrich Ernst, Wolfgang Feelisch, Ken Friedman, Al Hansen, Kenneth Goldsmith, Emily Harvey, Geoffrey Hendricks, Jon Hendricks, Ray Johnson, Alan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Richard Kostelanetz, Estera Milman, Pauline Oliveros, Jackson Mac Low, Bryan McHugh, Yoko Ono, Ben Patterson, Jerome Rothenberg, Piotr Rypson, Mieko Shiomi, Kristine Stiles, Wolf Vostell, Larry Wendt, Emmett Willliams, Paul Woodbine, LaMonte Young, and other artists, writers and publishers.

Original manuscript materials, including notes, drafts, texts, photographs, and working production files include some of these projects by Dick Higgins: Blue Cosmologies, Buster Keaton Enters into Paradise, Danger Musics, Four Men Weighing Chance (1960-1989), Graphis series #2-#202, Intermedia, Metadramas, The Natural Histories series (1991-1993), Pattern Poetry (1971-1997), Piano Album, Piano Sonata, 7.7.73 (1973-1990), Stacked Deck (scripts, various versions, information about performances and correspondence (1958-1990), The Tart or Miss America (1962-1967), The Thousand Symphonies (1967-1993), Bestiary (1990-1995), Bodies electric: arches (1981-1998), Book of George [Maciunas] (1961-1979), The Colors (1975-1995), The Erotikon (1976 contributions by many artists including Georg Brecht, Jean Dupuy, Bernard Heidsieck, Nicholas Zarbrugg, Opal L. Nations, Jill Johnston, Philip Corner, Klaus Groh, Ray Johnson, Wolf Vostell), Fluxus and Intermedia (1998), The Thousand Essays (1972-1980), Watching the Process (1977 interviews: John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Philip Corner, Alison Knowles, Geoffrey Hendricks, Meredith Monk, Nam June Paik, Jerome Rothenberg).