Kristine Stiles collection, 1900-ongoing

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Collection is restricted. Researchers must have permission from Kristine Stiles to use this material. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection....
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Summary

Creator:
Stiles, Kristine
Abstract:
Kristine Stiles is the France Family Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. Her main field of research is contemporary art with a focus on experimental practices, as well as representations of destruction, violence and trauma in art. The collection includes several different series, including Stiles' personal and family papers, projects and writings, correspondence, photographs, and an artist archive documenting her correspondence and relationships with hundreds of contemporary modern artists from around the world. This archive has been sorted by each artist's last name and includes such artists as Chris Burden, Lynn Hershman, Allan Kaprow, Gustav Metzger, John Latham, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Yoko Ono, Raphael MontaƱez Ortiz, Dan and Lia Perjovschi, Carolee Schneemann, Wolf Vostell and many more.
Extent:
204 Linear Feet
0.83 Gigabytes
Language:
Material in English, French
Collection ID:
RL.01254

Background

Scope and content:

The collection includes several different series, including Stiles' personal and family papers; projects and writings; correspondence; photographs; and an artist archive documenting her correspondence and relationship with over 60 different contemporary and modern artists from around the world.

The Personal and Family Papers series includes scrapbooks, photographs, and albums of Stiles family history, dating back to the early 20th century and including much of her extended family. The majority of the series consists of family correspondence between Stiles and her parents, siblings, ex-husbands, and other extended family members. Also included are Stiles' diaries, poetry, schoolwork, and other personal papers.

The Perjovschi Project series largely relates to the "States of Mind" exhibit that Stiles curated for the Nasher Museum of Art in 2007, highlighting the art of Dan and Lia Perjovschi. The couple's relationship with Stiles is also documented in this series, which includes correspondence between them, as well as original art, books sent to her, and details about their earlier visits to Duke and Stiles' visits to Romania in the 1990s.

The Artist Archive series represents the bulk of the collection, and is Stiles' archive of correspondence, documentation, interviews, and other interactions with over 60 modern and contemporary artists from around the world. This series frequently focuses on the Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS), and many of the original participants are represented here. Artists and groups have been arranged in alphabetical order, but on occasion, multiple artists are in the same box.

The Photographs series includes a wide range of items, including personal and family photographs of Stiles and her family, photographs taken by Stiles during her trips around the world, and photographs by other people of the DIAS movement. Also included are some scrapbooks and other fragile materials from Stiles' childhood.

The Writings and Projects series is focused largely on Stiles' research and artwork, and dates from her early childhood through recent research as a professor at Duke. Included are details and ephemera from her performance art and exhibitions, such as the "Romeo Drawing Book" and cassette tapes from her "Questions" installation. Also contains her Ph.D. dissertation.

Journals and Magazines is a series that includes zines, newsletters, and other periodicals that Stiles collected throughout her life. Many of these publications lasted only 1 or 2 issues. A notable portion of this series is the Apexart.org publications and the DIA Center for the Arts brochures, both of which include item-level description below.

The Name Files series is another large series that includes small amounts of correspondence, brochures, clippings, and communications from a variety of artists, family members, colleagues, and galleries. This series does not include Stiles' communications with artists represented in the Artist Archive series. It is foldered alphabetically.

The Audiovisual Materials series includes videotapes and recordings collected by Stiles from various artists promoting their work.

Other Artist Writings includes articles and writings by people other than Stiles; she collected them in the course of her research.

Posters and Oversize Materials include large items from a variety of sources in the collection. Frequently this series deals with materials that have been pulled from other series for preservation and housing.

Biographical / historical:

Kristine Stiles is a professor of Art and Art History at Duke University. Her main field of research is contemporary art with a focus on performance art and other interdisciplinary experimental art practices. Her research is especially concerned with global representations of violence, trauma, and destruction.

Acquisition information:
The Kristine Stiles Collection was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2020.
Processing information:

Accessioned (2009-0187) and processed by Meghan Lyon, October 2009

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, October 2009

Addition (2010-0025) added February, 2010

Addition (2012-0120) added and portions of the collection re-processed by Kate Collins, June 2012

Addition (2020-0034) added February, 2020

Addition (2020-0107) added June, 2021 by Laurin Penland

Materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Performance art
Art, Modern -- 20th century
Art, Modern -- 21st century
Photography, Artistic
Names:
Fluxus (Group of artists)
Duke University. Dept. of Art
Stiles, Kristine
Perjovschi, Lia, 1961-
Perjovschi, Dan
Ortiz, Raphael Montanez
Metzger, Gustav
Lebel, Jean Jacques

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:

Collection is restricted. Researchers must have permission from Kristine Stiles to use this material.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Electronic records in this collection have been migrated to a library server and digital use copies can only be accessed onsite in the Rubenstein Library Reading Room.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Kristine Stiles Collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.