Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Bill Ritchie video recordings, 1971-1997
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Ritchie, Bill
- Title
- Bill Ritchie video recordings
- Dates
- 1971-1997 (inclusive)19711997
- Quantity
- 3.42 cubic feet (28 U-matic videocassettes, 10 VHS, 5 DVDs, 1 1-inch videotape )
- Collection Number
- PH2019-013
- Summary
- Films from a Washington State artist
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
No user access copy is available for video materials. Users may be able to obtain a reproduction of the media for a fee. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Bill Ritchie was born in 1941 and grew up on a family farm in Yakima, Washington. When he was 18 years old, he left to pursue a career in fine art printmaking. He earned a bachelor’s degree in art at Central Washington University and a master’s at San Jose State University. Ritchie received an offer from the University of Washington to teach printmaking in 1966, when he was only 25 years old. His art and curriculum were quickly influenced by the emerging Seattle tech industry and by 1970 Ritchie was teaching video art, challenging his students to see the opportunities new technology allowed. He left the University of Washington in 1985 to start his own studio for research, teaching, and practice.
Bill Ritchie exhibited work in close to 300 galleries, solo and group shows, installations, and performances. His workshops, consultations, and lectures focused on the history and techniques of printmaking, computer-aided multimedia art-making, and artist entrepreneurship. Bill and his wife, Lynda run a small art gallery in Seattle.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Electronic art, printmaking demonstrations, and lectures created by Bill Ritchie, as well as electronic art, print demonstrations, dance, and performance he collected over time. Many of the videos are collaborative work Ritchie and his colleagues worked together to produce.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
DemonstrationsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | item | ||
1 | 15 |
Intaglio
Platemaking 1 disc (30 min.) : sound, color ; DVD
Artist/teacher Bill Ritchie set out to record his demonstrations
as soon as practical, portable video systems were available. He made a number
of them in black and white. This recording is the first time a color portable
camera was available. Seth Polanski, an art history student who loved
printmaking, helped with the demonstrations.
|
between 1971 and 2010 |
1 | 4 |
How I Printed "My Father's Farm
from the Moon" 1 videocassette (45 min.) : sound, color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
It took Bill Ritchie several hours to make the 1976 print "My
Father's Farm on the Moon." This was the most complicated print he attempted.
He made eight plates and fitted them together like a puzzle. He documented the
printing with a vintage camera. The title for the print came from a series of
works based on a nostalgic view of Ritchie's years on the farm.
Towards the end of the film there is a slow section of printing,
during which audio of the first moon landing is dubbed over, followed by audio
of a song by Carl Chew on the theme of farming on the moon, which Chew created
at Ritchie's request.
|
1976 |
1 | 20 |
Barry Moser: A Workshop in Wood
Engraving 1 videocassette (56 min. 15 sec.) : sound, color
; 3/4-inch U-matic
Barry Moser, renowned illustrator and wood engraver, gives a
lecture and demonstration at the University of Washington School of Art while
visiting Seattle.
Lecture sponsored by the Book Arts Guild. Recorded by the
University of Washington Instructional Media Services. Produced and edited by
Bill Ritchie. Directed by Jim Settlemier.
|
1982 |
1 | 17 |
Wood Block Print Making: Carol
Summers Demonstrated 1 disc (30 min.) : sound, color ; DVD
Internationally known printmaker Carol Summers demonstrates for
other artists and students how he makes his large, brightly colored relief
prints. In an art studio at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Summers
explains his techniques and shares his printing "secrets" with the audience. In
this video, he also gives an overview of his work up to 1984. The whole
demonstration was taped as it happened, and edited to viewing length. Summers
was in Seattle at the time for his one man show at the Davidson Galleries.
|
1984 |
DocumentariesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | item | ||
1 | 16 |
Making Etching Ink with
Daniel Smith 1 disc (34 min.) : sound, black and white and
color ; DVD
In 1977, five video art students took two cameras to record a
pioneering artist/entrepreneur, Daniel G. Smith, showing their professor, Bill
Ritchie, how he makes ink for etching. After the demonstration, Bill asked
Smith about the reasons why he, as a foremost artist, wanted to start an ink
making business. (Years later, the Seattle-based company Daniel Smith, Inc.
became known worldwide.)
The documentary was created as a student project for a Video Art
course, with the goal for students to conduct a recording session outside of
the video studio. The film was also an opportunity for students to experiment
with special effects and video editing techniques including fades, cross-overs
and dissolves.
Produced by Bill Ritchie for his teaching library, "Ritchie's
Video Archive," in co-operation with Winn Galleries and Olympus Press, and
support from the University of Washington Instructional Media Services. Video
and audio by Video Art students Greg Both, Greg Arnold, Terry Morgan, Jennifer
Dersham, Helen Hughes, and Lorna Pauley Jordan. Transcription by Nellie
Sunderland.
|
1977 |
3 | 38 |
Glimpses 1 videocassette (59 min.) : sound, color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
In 1980, as part of their Media Arts series, the King County
Arts Commission contracted with Bill Ritchie for a video on selected area
artists. Its title is Glimpses because the artists were each
given only minutes—a mere glimpse into their work—in the total hour-long
program.
The video includes Greg Both, Doris Chase, Carl Chew, Megan
Dean, John Dowell, Jr., Louise Durkee, Norman Durkee, Dennis Evans, Suzanne
Ferris, Karen Helmerson, Sheila Klein, Alan Lande, Susan Nininger, Ed
Praczukowski, Bill Ritchie, William O. Smith, Norie Sato, and Janet Yang, plus
the voices of John Gilbert, and Matthew Kangas, Richard Minsky, and Ann
Grosshans briefly.
Produced and edited by Bill Ritchie. Directed by Marvin Albert,
Jack Buchans, and Karen Helmerson. Music by Norman Durkee.
|
1980 |
1 | 14 |
Printing "The Locus and Sea
Squares" 1 disc (30 min.) : sound, color ; DVD
In his last day working at Triangle Studio in Seattle, Bill
Ritchie created the mixed media print, entitled "The Locus and the Sea
Squares," a variable edition of proof 141 in a series inspired a decade before
by the film, Planet of the Apes. A historic
documentary from Ritchie's video archives. This demonstration displays
techniques used in advanced printmaking workshops by fine art printmakers and
small presses today.
At the time this tape was made, Ritchie felt he was getting near
the end of the series. He was also preparing a tour of artists' printmaking,
video and computer art studios and schools world-wide for which he bought
equipment to videotape his survey and report on it in his role as a professor
at the University of Washington Art School in Seattle. So, on his last day
working at Seattle's Triangle Studio, he handed his new video camera to another
artist, Norie Sato, known for her prints, video art and installations, asking
her to record him printing what was to be his last print made at Triangle
Studio, Number 141.
The resulting tape is a mostly "live" work; there are few edits
or enhancements - a kind of raw, verite-style "studio documentary" or home
video snapshot. Footage includes a farewell party for Ritchie. The process
began with preliminary steps to get the composition and colors. This film show
certain special effects, and how this print related to a poster similar in
design to the one shown being made. A list of owners of the print Ritchie made
is included.
Other artists at Triangle Studio are pictured, including Norie
Sato, Nancy Matson Mee, Margi Beyers, Beth Elliot, and Jeffrey Bishop.
Digitally restored from the 1982 videotape.
|
September 30, 1982 |
1 | 12 |
Painting with Light: The Ibis
Project 1 videocassette (27 min. 30 sec.) : color ;
VHS
Bill Ritchie opens the documentary with his explanation of
computer graphics as fine art. Then he shows the features of the computer in
use at that time by a number of artists--a system known as the Ibis. Ibis was
the brainchild of Carl Youngman and Eleanor Mathews, principals of Fairfield
Graphics. They loaned the system to a loose-knit group of artists who proceeded
to use the workstation for their art. Using media ranging from printmaking to
rugs and mixed techniques, they created a body of work that was shown in Tacoma
at the American Art Company gallery. The program includes commentaries by
several artists, explaining how they adopted the Ibis into their studio work.
Broadcast on Tacoma Municipal Television.
|
1988 |
InterviewsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | item | ||
3 | 44 | Bill Ritchie interview on Speakout
television program 1 videocassette (29 min.) : sound, color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
Interview of Bill Ritchie by Anne Souther on the student
television production series Speakout for KCTS,
Channel 9, Seattle. Bill Ritchie was a professor of art at the University of
Washington School of Art at the time. In the interview, Ritchie describes why
he took up printmaking and then added video and computer graphics to his studio
toolkit. Examples of his visual art are shown along with an excerpt from a
video work made with C. T. Chew and one by Karen Helmerson.
Duplicate from 2-inch original master.
|
January 30, 1981 |
1 | 6 | "Multimedia Roots: My Interviews, 1980-90" 1 videocassette (20 min. 10 sec.) : sound, color
; 3/4-inch U-matic
An assembly of interviews with Bill Ritchie made for radio and
TV in the decade that saw the state of his art rising out of printmaking the
old way to new technologies blending with the old. Bill was a professor of art
when some of the interviews took place.
Interviewers include Angela Torres-Henrick (KCMU), Anne Souther
(KCTS), Joel Parks (KOMO), Billie Karen (3Aw, Melbourne), Nick Walker (KIRO),
Clif Lenz (KING), Frank Catalano (KING-AM), and the interviews include Carl T.
Chew, plus images of former students and studio mates.
|
1991 |
LecturesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | item | ||
2 | 22 | John Dowell, Jr. lecture and performance 1 videocassette (57 min.) : color, sound ;
3/4-inch U-matic
John E. Dowell Jr. earned his MFA degree in Printmaking at the
University of Washington in 1966. He returned as to UW as an
artist-in-residence in 1979. In this film, Dowell "performs" his paintings with
the Visual Music Ensemble, a group he assembled to play musical works based on
his watercolors. He also speaks to students in the Bill Ritchie's graduate
seminar for the School of Art.
In this lecture, Dowell shows how he blends musical composition
with visual arts and how artists from different disciplines can take on
creative efforts together.
Performed by Bob Campbell (cello), Michael Dougherty
(percussion), John Dowell Jr. (keyboard), and Bobby Zankel (saxophone). Filmed
at the UW CCTV Studios. Produced by Bill Ritchie. Directed by Jim
Settlemier.
|
1979 |
3 | 40 | "Seminar in Emerging Forms #2" 1 videocassette (40 min.) ; 3/4-inch
U-matic
Seminar on choreography, music, and bookwork. Second hour of
seminar including Sheila Klein, Richard Minsky, Norman Durkee, and the
students.
|
June 3, 1980 |
3 | 41 | "Seminar in Emerging Forms #3" 1 videocassette (52 min.) ; 3/4-inch
U-matic
Seminar on choreography, music, and bookwork. Third hour of
seminar featuring Norman Durkee.
|
June 3, 1980 |
1 | 1-3 | "Behind Time in the
Electronic Age" 3 videocassettes (54 min. 20 sec. each) : sound,
color ; 3/4-inch U-matic
Art and technology is an issue in our times, when slides may be
replaced by videos as in this lecture/videotape. Bill Ritchie created it for
the World Print Council's 1982 "New Print(making) Technologies" conference. He
describes how "time" relates printmaking to other arts, how "time technology"
has been used by artists over the past century, and how some contemporary
artists use it in performance and video art.
|
1982 |
1 | 7-8 | "Art, Technology and Human Creativity" 2 videocassettes (60 min. each) : sound, color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
Lecture by Bill Ritchie with slides and videotape presented at
St. Martin's College for the college's 1986 "Human Creativity Conference." As
an artist whose work at the time used computers but who did his beginning work
in printmaking, Ritchie tells how video serves as a model of the creative
process. Ritchie describes his artwork since 1964, how old and new technologies
were used, and how he was influenced.
|
April 8, 1986 |
1 | 9 | "Cross Over the Bridge" 1 videocassette : sound ; S-VHS
Lecture at University of Nevada Las Vegas by Bill Ritchie.
Sponsored by Tom Holder, Professor of Art.
|
between 1986 and 1990? |
1 | 10 | "Ritchie's Perfect Studios" 1 videocassette : sound, color ; VHS
Lecture for interns at Western Washington State College in
Bellingham (later renamed Western Washington University).
|
1990 |
1 | 11 | "Bill Ritchie: Live at the UW Technical Communications
Seminar" 1 videocassette (1 hr. 19 min.) : sound, color ;
VHS
The last lecture Bill Ritchie gave at the University of
Washington.
|
November 17, 1997 |
CompilationsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | item | ||
2 | 33 | "Carl's Garden and Kokoban"; "Painted Self" (or) "What
is Real?"; "Video Insult" 1 videocassette : color, sound ; 3/4-inch
U-matic
"Carl's Garden and Kokoban": By Carl Chew and anonymous.
"Painted Self" (or) "What is Real?" (1975): By Dennis Evans. (5
min. 30 sec.)
"Video Insult" (1976): By Carl Chew. (7 min. 15 sec.)
|
between 1971 and 1976? |
1 | 5 | "Papers for Printmaking"; "How We Made 'The Hands of
Carl Chew on My Father's Farm'" 1 videocassette (58 min.) : sound, black and
white and color ; 3/4-inch U-matic
"Papers for Printmaking" (1984): Kathleen Rabel and Bill Ritchie
show various papers available to printmaking artists in front of audience of
students from a silkscreen class. The recording took place in the shipping room
of Daniel Smith Inc., a supplier of most papers for artistic use. Both common
and rare papers are included. Cost-saving methods, suitable composition, and
handling are discussed. (30 min.)
"How We Made 'My Father's Farm From the Moon'" (1972-1973):
Narrated by Bill Ritchie. (28 min.)
|
between 1972 and 1984 |
3 | 39 | "Glimpses I"; "Smith" / "Greenhouse" / "Saw. 4, 5, 6,
7"; "Kurosaki: Watercolor for Woodcuts" 1 videocassette (38 min. 30 sec.) : sound, color
and black and white ; 3/4-inch U-matic
"Glimpses I": Excerpts of video work by faculty, students, and
friends at the University of Washington from 1973-1979. (21 min.)
"Smith, Greenhouse, Saw" no. 4, 5, 6, and 7: Version of
improvisational music and video based on the work of William O. Smith and the
Contemporary Group. (5 min. 30 sec.)
"Kurosaki: Watercolor for Woodcuts" (1980-1981): (12 min).
|
between 1973 and 1981 |
2 | 24 | "Wed"; "Kepes is Not Here" 1 videocassette (30 min.) : sound, color and
black and white ; 3/4-inch U-matic
"Wed" (1973): Music by William O. Smith. Video by Dennis Evans,
Larry Stair, Norie Sato, Bill Ritchie, and Harris Sweed. Includes Seattle
Post-Intelligencer newspaper clipping from September 26, 1983, which mentions
and quotes William O. Smith. (18 min.)
"Kepes is Not Here" (1978): By Bill Ritchie. Made with the help
of C. Corson, M. Dodge, Darcanne Preble, and Ron Meadows. (12 min.)
|
between 1973 and 1978 |
3 | 43 |
Videoism: Compiled Works of Bill
Ritchie and Friends 1 videocassette (29 min.) ; 3/4-inch
U-matic
"The Hands of Carl Chew on My Father's Farm" (1974): The video
was created in 1973-74 with Carl Chew. Carl Chew, whose hands are pictured, was
not hearing the music at the time. Bill Ritchie added music during the editing
process. The "farm" reference is to Ritchie's etching of that title. (6 min. 55
sec.)
"Theory of Gravity" (1974): Carl Chew and Scott Milzer
illustrate "The Theory", and Ritchie's favorite economist talks about change.
Director: Dennis Evans. Audio track: Bill Ritchie. (2 min. 55 sec.)
"Smith, Greenhouse, Saw" (1979): William O. Smith and the
Contemporary Group of the University of Washington improvise in a greenhouse.
Ritchie added the saw. Jack Armstrong and Ed Boyd created the video/audio mix.
(4 min. 55 sec.)
"Rolling Sorcerer" (1978): In printmaking the printing press is
the source. In video improvisation, the "source" varies greatly; and video
itself, like its progenitor television, is a sorcerer, rolling along. (2 min.
55 sec.)
"Kepes is Not Here" (1978): Since the time Ritchie was a
student, Kepes' writings inspired and guided him. Ritchie was anxious to repay
Kepes for the fundamentals of his vision with the fundamentals of Ritchie's
aural videoist's experience. (11 min.)
|
between 1974 and 1979 |
2 | 34 | "Theory of Gravity"; "Untitled" 1 videocassette : sound, color and black and
white ; 3/4-inch U-matic
"Theory of Gravity": Carl Chew and Scott Milzer illustrate "The
Theory", and my Ritchie's favorite economist talks about change. Director:
Dennis Evans. Audio track: Bill Ritchie. (3 min., color)
"Untitled": By Dennis Evans. (7 min. 10 sec., black and
white)
|
1974? |
2 | 32 | "Painted Self" (or) "What is Real?"; "With
Balls" 1 videocassette (12 min. 40 sec.) : black and
white ; 3/4-inch U-matic
"Painted Self" (or) "What is Real?" By Dennis Evans and Sean
Licka. (5 min. 30 sec.)
"With Balls" by Dennis Evans and Nancy Mee. (7 min. 10 sec.)
|
1975 |
3 | 42 | "I Loved That Wave Square"; "Looking for the
Target" 1 videocassette (60 min.) : black and white ;
3/4-inch U-matic
"I Loved That Wave Square" (1977): Corrected by UW (old) TBC
from original 1/2-inch Portapak tape. (40 min.)
"Looking for the Target" (1978): Five parts. (20 min.)
|
between 1977 and 1978 |
1 | 19 |
Seattle Artists:
1980-1989 1 videocassette (60 min.) : sound, color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
Compiled broadcasts of artists in Seattle featured on TV.
|
between 1980 and 1989 |
1 | 18 | Video Dig Reloaded: 4,000 Years of TV through Artists'
Eyes 1 disc : sound, color ; DVD
Videos created by and featuring some of the Pacific Northwest's
foremost artists when they were students of Bill Ritchie. The work of these
artists including painting, sculpture, printmaking and performance are well
known, but less is known about their use of video as art instruments.
Clips include the burning of Carl Chew's "Prehistoric Post
Office," "Rolling Sorcerer," and others. Videos feature commentary by Bill
Ritchie.
Collector's Edition including CD, Ritchie's Cinderella Stamp and
Flashbook, and a game developed by Ritchie with associated map.
|
2011 |
UncategorizedReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | item | ||
2 | 21 | I Don’t No (Know) But We'll Think of
Something 1 videocassette (14 min.) : sound, black and
white ; 1-inch Type C
Purchased Art. UW CCTV Services.
|
May 2, 1970 |
1 | 13 | Video at Bumbershoot 1 videocassette (4 min.) : black and
white
This video was recorded by Mike Holcomb at the 1973 Bumbershoot
Art Festival in Seattle. The festival included an open video art studio which
Bill Ritchie and his video art students participated in. Ritchie viewed this
event as the first major art festival to show video artists in action. Ritchie
used this video in his course "Video art 1970-1985."
|
1973 |
2 | 35 | "Theory of Gravity" 1 videocassette (1 min.) : color ; 3/4-inch
U-matic
Carl Chew and Scott Milzer illustrate "The Theory", and Bill
Ritchie's favorite economist talks about change. Director: Dennis Evans. Audio
track: Bill Ritchie.
|
1974 |
2 | 25 | Video Insult: "Face III" "Blind Gallery" 1 videocassette : color and black and white ;
3/4-inch U-matic
|
1976 |
2 | 23 | William O. Smith: Wed 1 videocassette (18 min.) : sound, color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
William O. Smith with Larry Stair, Norie Sato, Harris Sweed,
& Subu Swaugh (early).
Includes Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper clipping from
September 26, 1983, which mentions and quotes William O. Smith.
|
1978 |
2 | 26 | Louise Durkee (1974-1979) 1 videocassette : color ; VHS
Excerpts of Louise Durkee's choreography from 1974-1979,
prepared for the Artists' Fellowships Awards in 1980.
|
1980 |
2 | 27 | Louise Durkee concert 1 videocassette : color ; VHS
"For Those Who Are Mistaken," "Maids of Heart," and
"Automatix."
|
December 1980 |
2 | 28 | "Implement the Moon and Other Nocturnal
Jeopardies" 1 videocassette ; VHS
Choreography and costumes by Louise Durkee.
|
June 1981 |
2 | 29 |
Louise Durkee: Folksong for a
Nuclear Village 1 videocassette (83 min.) : color ; VHS
Duplicate from edited submaster.
|
1982 |
2 | 30 | "The Seminary Screenprints" 1 videocassette (29 min.) : color and black and
white ; VHS
Scenes of three artists in an independent shop producing a
collaborative screen art print using flocking, printing on glass, metal and
paper. Unedited master of Dennis Evans, Keith Beckley, and Jeffery Michael
Peterson in Peterson's studio working on the artists' bookwork, "The
Seminary".
|
March 3, 1984 |
2 | 36 | "Aristotle's Mistake" 1 videocassette (25 min. 52 sec.) : color ;
3/4-inch U-matic
Conceptual artist Ulises Carrion presents a series of monologues
lamenting the error of Aristotle Onassis when he left Maria Callas for Jackie
Kennedy. Subtitles are used as the speakers are heard in Chinese, Dutch,
Hebrew, Japanese, Malay, Polish, and Spanish.
|
1985 |
2 | 37 | "Never Mind the Chimes" 1 videocassette (30 min.) : color ; 3/4-inch
U-matic
Dub from 1" master. University of Washington Instructional Media
Services.
|
June 26, 1985 |
item | |||
31 | "Lisel Salzer: Gold Medalist" 1 videocassette (20 min.) : sound, color ;
VHS
Excerpts from a ceremony held in Seattle, in which Austrain born
artist Lisel Salzer was awarded the Austrian Cross of Merit in Gold. Lisel
Salzer (1906-2005) was forced to leave Austria during WWII. She eventually
settled in Seattle and was a renowned painter and enamellist, particularly
known for reviving the lost art of the Limoges Enamel technique of fused glass
on copper.
|
2003 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Moving Image Collections (University of Washington)
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)