Douglas Donald Michels known as Doug Michels (b. 06–29–1943, Seattle, Washington - d. 06–12–2003, near Sydney, Australia) was an American architect, artist, and designer, co-founder of the collective Ant Farm.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][excessive citations]
Early life & education
editBorn in Seattle, Michels studied at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and at Oxford University in England before graduating with a degree in architecture from Yale University in 1967.[8] Michels also studied architecture at Harvard.[8]
Career
editAnt Farm
editMichels met Chip Lord in 1968, when Michels gave a guest lecture at Tulane University, where Lord was attending school. The two met again in August 1968 at an architecture workshop directed by Lawrence Halprin in San Francisco. It was at this workshop where Michels and Lord founded Ant Farm.[9]
We wanted to be an architecture group that was more like a rock band. We were telling Sharon [a friend] that we would be doing underground architecture, like underground newspapers and underground movies, and she said, 'Oh, you mean like an Ant Farm?' and that's all it took. It was very Ant Farm. The founding of the name was indicative of how Ant Farm worked: the right idea comes, everybody acknowledges it is the right idea and instantly adopts it.
— Doug Michels
The group's initial goal was to reform education, but with little funding, Michels and Lord relocated to Houston, Texas, where they both became visiting professors at the University of Houston. It was in Houston where the group first began putting on performances, including their "inflatables."[9] Eventually, Lord and Michels were joined by Hudson Marquez and Curtis Schreier.[9]
The group was a self-described "art agency that promotes ideas that have no commercial potential, but which we think are important vehicles of cultural introspection." In addition to their architecture works, the collective was well known for their counter-cultural performances and media events, such as Media Burn. Ant Farm's installation, Cadillac Ranch, remains an iconic sculpture in American popular culture.[10]
In 1972, Michels and Lord collaborated with Houston architect Richard Jost on the House Of The Century, a futuristic concept of a home.[11]
Ant Farm disbanded in 1978 when a fire destroyed their San Francisco studio.[1]
Post Ant Farm
editIn 1979, Michels presented the Teleport media room in Houston, an artwork created with Richard Jost and Alex Morphett, that consisted of futuristic communications devices, foreshadowing many telecom innovations now commonplace.[12][13]
Doug Michels proposed and designed the unbuilt statue The Spirit of Houston.[1]
Michels worked extensively on plans for Bluestar, a space station to be co-occupied by both humans and dolphins.[8]
Michels operated an art and design studio in Washington, D.C from 1986 to 1999.[8]
Death
editMichels died while climbing to a whale observation point in Eden Bay, Australia.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c Michels, Patrick (2024-08-27). "The Unbelievably True Story of One of the Artists Behind Cadillac Ranch". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ "Michels, Doug". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ Congress, The Library of. "Michels, Doug - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ Johnson, Ken (21 June 2003). "Doug Michels, Radical Artist and Architect, Dies at 59".
- ^ "Designer Doug Michels, At 59".
- ^ Knudson, Rainey. "Sad News: Doug Michels". Glasstire.
- ^ "DOUG MICHELS, ARTIST AND DESIGNER, DIES AT FIFTY-NINE". Artforum. 2003-06-23. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ a b c d e McLellan, Dennis (2003-06-23). "Doug Michels, 59; Avant-Garde Architect Co-Designed Cadillac Monument in Texas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ a b c Mellencamp, Patricia. "Ant Farm Redux: Pyrotechnics and Emergence." Journal of Film and Video 57.1/2 (2005): 40-56.
- ^ Melissa E. Feldman (January 2005). "Unearthing Ant Farm". Art in America. pp. 42–45. Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2010-05-09. Alt URL
- ^ Architecture, Hidden (2016-05-15). "House of the Century". Hidden Architecture. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ Reed, Christopher (2003-07-31). "Doug Michels". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ "Collection: Doug Michels Architectural Papers | University of Houston Libraries". findingaids.lib.uh.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
- ^ "Trying to understand Doug Michels". www.westsidespirit.com. Retrieved 2024-10-15.