Ant Farm: 1968-1978

September 8 - December 12, 2004

This is the first exhibition to survey the work of the legendary architecture and art collective, Ant Farm. A group of radical architects who were also video, performance and installation artists — but above all, visionaries and cultural commentators — Ant Farm was founded by Chip Lord and Doug Michels in 1968 amidst the hot-house of San Francisco's counter-culture. Influenced by "alternative" architects like Buckminster Fuller, Archigram, and Superstudio, Ant Farm's early inflatable structures were suited to a nomadic, communal lifestyle, divergent from the mainstream Brutalist architecture of the 1960s. The group was also known for spectacular performance events like "Media Burn" (1975), for which Ant Farm member Curtis Schreier and Michels dressed up like astronauts and sped a customized Cadillac El Dorado through a pyramid of burning televisions. Organized by the Berkeley Art Museum, this exhibition is centered around a visual "timeline" of the group, which includes ephemera, blueprints, publications, documents, drawings, collages, photographs, architectural models, and documentary video clips. ICA is the only East Coast venue for the exhibition.

installation views > click to enlarge




Ant Farm, 2004 Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Aaron Igler.


Ant Farm, 2004 Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Aaron Igler.


Ant Farm, 2004 Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Aaron Igler.


Ant Farm, 2004 Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Aaron Igler.


Cadillac Ranch by Ant Farm (Lord, Marquez, Michels) 1974.


Ant Farm, 2004 Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Aaron Igler.

ICA gratefully acknowledges the lead sponsorship of Kieran Timberlake Associates, LLP - Stephen Kieran, FAIA and James Timberlake, FAIA and the generous support of the Goldberg Foundation, Inc. Additional support has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; The Dietrich Foundation Inc.; MGA Partners, Architects; the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art, friends and members of ICA; and the University of Pennsylvania.

Top of page: Ant Farm, 2004 Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Aaron Igler


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