USA: Artists Robert Rauschenberg

Duration: 12:00

Year Published: 1966

Creator: National Educational Television Inc. (NET)

Complete Record: In 1963, at the height of his career as a painter combing silkscreen, still a young man in his 30s, Rauschenberg stopped paining and began exploration in other media: Sculpture, film, theater, etc. He introduced fragments of reality into his painting: Chair parts, fragments of cloth, photographs, etc. This film is Rauschenberg talking about what brought about this change. The change in his art allowed him to create tensions in abstract painting wherein painting was next to objects of from real life. He called these new works “combine paintings” in which three dimensional objects enriched the meaning of the canvas and accomplished his long held belief that the art of painting had become static because it was held captive inside a predictable frame. There are long sections of Rauschenberg’s paintings and occasionally, Rauschenberg working on them. He is interviewed in his studio. There are studio shots as well as interpolated work from film and theater. Birds, parachutes, stop signs and other objects repeat in his work because with silk screen he could repeat motives. He talks about “Radio Broadcast” and “Oracle.” Footage of both sculptures with sound and paint are shown. Close-ups of Rauschenberg’s face as he talks is intriguing. He says his work is not an “environment” but wants to make viewers have singular reactions to what is happening with their understanding of the piece as well as with immediate occurrences like outside noise. In 1964, at the Venice Biennial, he received first prize in painting. This award was a first for an American artist. Interview covers his comments on having won this prize. His good fortune caused extraordinary hostility toward him. Leo Castelli, Rauschenberg’s dealer, talks of Rauschenberg’s work and Rauschenberg as a person. Rauschenberg sought a more integrated performance environment. He started as a costume designer for Merce Cunningham. He later became a choreographer, composer, and scene designer. Shows “Spring Training” -- three brides eating crackers ride with tires over a spring mattress which is wired for sound. He likes the work because it is unpredictable. “Pelican” conceived for a theater in Washington, DC, was his first theater piece. Footage shown. In film, he reedited old travel logs which he called “Glue.” Significance of Rauschenberg’s art according to Leo Castelli. “Everything is possible . . . Audacity. . . . Art and Life at the same time.” According to Rauschenberg, “Today, outside activity ‘around art’ is where the attention is, ‘not focused on the artist.’” Has some fears about where he will go with his art, because he says, if he continues in his current vein, the art would not be recognizable as art. Object could not be separated from ground.