Heinrich Hertz
Born	Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857-02-22)22 February 1857 Hamburg, German Confederation
Died	1 January 1894(1894-01-01) (aged 36) Bonn, German Empire
Residence	Germany
Nationality	German
Fields	Physics Electronic Engineering
Institutions	University of Kiel University of Karlsruhe University of Bonn
Alma mater	University of Munich University of Berlin
Doctoral advisor	Hermann von Helmholtz
Known for	Electromagnetic radiation Photoelectric effect
Signature

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light, which was first demonstrated by David Edward Hughes using non-rigorous trial and error procedures. Hertz is distinguished from Maxwell and Hughes because he was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves by engineering instruments to transmit and receive radio pulses using experimental procedures that ruled out all other known wireless phenomena.^[1] The scientific unit of frequency — cycles per second — was named the "hertz" in his honor.^[2]

Life and career[link]

Early years[link]

Hertz was born in Hamburg, then a sovereign state of the German Confederation, into a prosperous and cultured Hanseatic family. His father, David Gustav Hertz, was a writer and later a senator. His mother was the former Anna Elisabeth Pfefferkorn. His paternal great-grandfather, David Wolff Hertz (1757–1822), fourth son of Benjamin Wolff Hertz, moved to Hamburg in 1793, where he made his living as a jeweller; he and his wife Schöne Hertz (1760–1834) were buried in the former Jewish cemetery in Ottensen. Their first son, Wolff Hertz (1790–1859), was chairman of the Jewish community. Hertz' paternal grandfather, Heinrich David Hertz (1797–1862), was a respected businessman, and his paternal grandmother, Betty Oppenheim, was the daughter of the banker Salomon Oppenheim, from Cologne. Hertz's father and paternal grandparents converted from Judaism to Christianity.^[3][4] His mother's family was Lutheran.^[5]

While studying at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in Hamburg, he showed an aptitude for sciences as well as languages, learning Arabic and Sanskrit. He studied sciences and engineering in the German cities of Dresden, Munich and Berlin, where he studied under Gustav R. Kirchhoff and Hermann von Helmholtz.

In 1880, Hertz obtained his PhD from the University of Berlin; and remained for post-doctoral study under Hermann von Helmholtz.

In 1883, Hertz took a post as a lecturer in theoretical physics at the University of Kiel.

In 1885, Hertz became a full professor at the University of Karlsruhe where he discovered electromagnetic waves.

The most dramatic prediction of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism, published in 1865, was the existence of electromagnetic waves moving at the speed of light, and the conclusion that light itself was just such a wave. This challenged experimentalists to generate and detect electromagnetic radiation using some form of electrical apparatus.

The first successful radio transmission was made by David Edward Hughes in 1879, but it would not be conclusively proven to have been electromagnetic waves until the experiments of Heinrich Hertz in 1886. For the Hertz radio wave transmitter, he used a high voltage induction coil, a condenser (capacitor, Leyden jar) and a spark gap—whose poles on either side are formed by spheres of 2 cm radius—to cause a spark discharge between the spark gap’s poles oscillating at a frequency determined by the values of the capacitor and the induction coil.

To prove there really was radiation emitted, it had to be detected. Hertz used a piece of copper wire, 1 mm thick, bent into a circle of a diameter of 7.5 cm, with a small brass sphere on one end, and the other end of the wire was pointed, with the point near the sphere. He bought a screw mechanism so that the point could be moved very close to the sphere in a controlled fashion. This "receiver" was designed so that current oscillating back and forth in the wire would have a natural period close to that of the "transmitter" described above. The presence of oscillating charge in the receiver would be signaled by sparks across the (tiny) gap between the point and the sphere (typically, this gap was hundredths of a millimeter).

In more advanced experiments, Hertz measured the velocity of electromagnetic radiation and found it to be the same as the light’s velocity. He also showed that the nature of radio waves’ reflection and refraction was the same as those of light and established beyond any doubt that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation obeying the Maxwell equations.

Hertz's experiments triggered broad interest in radio research that eventually produced commercially successful wireless telegraph, audio radio, and later television. In 1930 the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) honored Hertz by naming the unit of frequency—one cycle per second—the "hertz".^[2]

Meteorology[link]

He always had a deep interest in meteorology probably derived from his contacts with Wilhelm von Bezold (who was Hertz's professor in a laboratory course at the Munich Polytechnic in the summer of 1878). Hertz, however, did not contribute much to the field himself except some early articles as an assistant to Helmholtz in Berlin, including research on the evaporation of liquids, a new kind of hygrometer, and a graphical means of determining the properties of moist air when subjected to adiabatic changes.^[6]

Contact mechanics[link]

Memorial of Heinrich Hertz on the campus of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

In 1886–1889, Hertz published two articles on what was to become known as the field of contact mechanics. Hertz is well known for his contributions to the field of electrodynamics (see below); however, most papers that look into the fundamental nature of contact cite his two papers as a source for some important ideas. Joseph Valentin Boussinesq published some critically important observations on Hertz's work, nevertheless establishing this work on contact mechanics to be of immense importance. His work basically summarises how two axi-symmetric objects placed in contact will behave under loading, he obtained results based upon the classical theory of elasticity and continuum mechanics. The most significant failure of his theory was the neglect of any nature of adhesion between the two solids, which proves to be important as the materials composing the solids start to assume high elasticity. It was natural to neglect adhesion in that age as there were no experimental methods of testing for it.

To develop his theory Hertz used his observation of elliptical Newton's rings formed upon placing a glass sphere upon a lens as the basis of assuming that the pressure exerted by the sphere follows an elliptical distribution. He used the formation of Newton's rings again while validating his theory with experiments in calculating the displacement which the sphere has into the lens. K. L. Johnson, K. Kendall and A. D. Roberts (JKR) used this theory as a basis while calculating the theoretical displacement or indentation depth in the presence of adhesion in their landmark article "Surface energy and contact of elastic solids" published in 1971 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society (A324, 1558, 301–313). Hertz's theory is recovered from their formulation if the adhesion of the materials is assumed to be zero. Similar to this theory, however using different assumptions, B. V. Derjaguin, V. M. Muller and Y. P. Toporov published another theory in 1975, which came to be known as the DMT theory in the research community, which also recovered Hertz's formulations under the assumption of zero adhesion. This DMT theory proved to be rather premature and needed several revisions before it came to be accepted as another material contact theory in addition to the JKR theory. Both the DMT and the JKR theories form the basis of contact mechanics upon which all transition contact models are based and used in material parameter prediction in nanoindentation and atomic force microscopy. So Hertz's research from his days as a lecturer, preceding his great work on electromagnetism, which he himself considered with his characteristic soberness to be trivial, has come down to the age of nanotechnology.

Electromagnetic research[link]

Official English translation of Untersuchungen über die Ausbreitung der elektrischen Kraft published in 1893, a year before Hertz's death.

Theoretical results from the 1887 experiment

In 1886, Hertz developed the Hertz antenna receiver. This is a set of terminals which is not electrically grounded for its operation. He also developed a transmitting type of dipole antenna, which was a center-fed driven element for transmitting UHF radio waves. These antennas are the simplest practical antennas from a theoretical point of view.

In 1887, Hertz experimented with radio waves in his laboratory. These actions followed Michelson's 1881 experiment (precursor to the 1887 Michelson–Morley experiment), which did not detect the existence of aether drift. Hertz altered Maxwell's equations to take this view into account for electromagnetism. Hertz used a Ruhmkorff coil-driven spark gap and one meter wire pair as a radiator. Capacity spheres were present at the ends for circuit resonance adjustments. His receiver, a precursor to the dipole antenna, was a simple half-wave dipole antenna for shortwaves. Hertz published his work in a book titled: Electric waves: being researches on the propagation of electric action with finite velocity through space.^[7]

Through experimentation, he proved that transverse free space electromagnetic waves can travel over some distance. This had been predicted by James Clerk Maxwell and Michael Faraday. With his apparatus configuration, the electric and magnetic fields would radiate away from the wires as transverse waves. Hertz had positioned the oscillator about 12 meters from a zinc reflecting plate to produce standing waves. Each wave was about 4 meters. Using the ring detector, he recorded how the magnitude and wave's component direction vary. Hertz measured Maxwell's waves and demonstrated that the velocity of radio waves was equal to the velocity of light. The electric field intensity and polarity was also measured by Hertz. (Hertz, 1887, 1888).

The Hertzian cone was first described by Hertz as a type of wave-front propagation through various media. His experiments expanded the field of electromagnetic transmission and his apparatus was developed further by others in the radio. Hertz also found that radio waves could be transmitted through different types of materials, and were reflected by others, leading in the distant future to radar.

Hertz helped establish the photoelectric effect (which was later explained by Albert Einstein) when he noticed that a charged object loses its charge more readily when illuminated by ultraviolet light. In 1887, he made observations of the photoelectric effect and of the production and reception of electromagnetic (EM) waves, published in the journal Annalen der Physik. His receiver consisted of a coil with a spark gap, whereby a spark would be seen upon detection of EM waves. He placed the apparatus in a darkened box to see the spark better. He observed that the maximum spark length was reduced when in the box. A glass panel placed between the source of EM waves and the receiver absorbed ultraviolet radiation that assisted the electrons in jumping across the gap. When removed, the spark length would increase. He observed no decrease in spark length when he substituted quartz for glass, as quartz does not absorb UV radiation. Hertz concluded his months of investigation and reported the results obtained. He did not further pursue investigation of this effect, nor did he make any attempt at explaining how the observed phenomenon was brought about.

Hertz did not realize the practical importance of his experiments. He stated that,

"It's of no use whatsoever[...] this is just an experiment that proves Maestro Maxwell was right—we just have these mysterious electromagnetic waves that we cannot see with the naked eye. But they are there."^[8][9][10]

Asked about the ramifications of his discoveries, Hertz replied,

"Nothing, I guess."^[8]

His discoveries would later be more fully understood by others and be part of the new "wireless age". In bulk, Hertz' experiments explain reflection, refraction, polarization, interference, and velocity of electric waves.

In 1892, Hertz began experimenting and demonstrated that cathode rays could penetrate very thin metal foil (such as aluminium). Philipp Lenard, a student of Heinrich Hertz, further researched this "ray effect". He developed a version of the cathode tube and studied the penetration by X-rays of various materials. Philipp Lenard, though, did not realize that he was producing X-rays. Hermann von Helmholtz formulated mathematical equations for X-rays. He postulated a dispersion theory before Röntgen made his discovery and announcement. It was formed on the basis of the electromagnetic theory of light (Wiedmann's Annalen, Vol. XLVIII). However, he did not work with actual X-rays.

Death at age 36[link]

In 1892, an infection was diagnosed (after a bout of severe migraines) and Hertz underwent some operations to correct the illness. He died of Wegener's granulomatosis at the age of 36 in Bonn, Germany in 1894, and was buried in Ohlsdorf, Hamburg at the Jewish cemetery.^{[citation needed]}

Hertz's wife, Elizabeth Hertz (maiden name: Elizabeth Doll), did not remarry. Heinrich Hertz left two daughters, Joanna and Mathilde. Subsequently, all three women left Germany in the 1930s and went to England, after the rise of Adolf Hitler. Charles Susskind interviewed Mathilde Hertz in the 1960s and he later published a book on Heinrich Hertz. Heinrich Hertz's daughters never married and he does not have any descendants, according to the book by Susskind.

Legacy and honors[link]

His nephew Gustav Ludwig Hertz was a Nobel Prize winner, and Gustav's son Carl Hellmuth Hertz invented medical ultrasonography.

The SI unit hertz (Hz) was established in his honor by the IEC in 1930 for frequency, an expression of the number of times that a repeated event occurs per second. It was adopted by the CGPM (Conférence générale des poids et mesures) in 1960, officially replacing the previous name, the "cycle per second" (cps).

In 1969 (East Germany), a Heinrich Hertz memorial medal^[11] was cast. The IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal, established in 1987, is "for outstanding achievements in Hertzian waves [...] presented annually to an individual for achievements which are theoretical or experimental in nature".

Heinrich Hertz

A crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, just behind the eastern limb, is named in his honor. The Hertz market for radio electronics products in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, is named after him. The Heinrich-Hertz-Turm radio telecommunication tower in Hamburg is named after the city's famous son.

Hertz is honored by Japan with a membership in the Order of the Sacred Treasure, which has multiple layers of honor for prominent people, including scientists.^[12]

Heinrich Hertz has been honored by a number of countries around the world in their postage issues, and in post-World War II times has appeared on various German stamp issues as well.

On his birthday in 2012, Google honored Hertz with a Google doodle, inspired by his life's work, on its home page.^[13][14]

Nazi revisionism[link]

Although Hertz would not have considered himself Jewish, his "Jewish" portrait was removed by the Nazis from its prominent position of honor in Hamburg's City Hall (Rathaus) because of his partly "Jewish ancestry." Hertz was a Lutheran; and although his father’s family had been Jewish,^[15] his father had converted to Catholicism before marrying.^{[citation needed]} The painting has since been returned to public display.^[16]

See also[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Heinrich Hertz

• Quotations related to Heinrich Hertz at Wikiquote
• Hertzian radiation - better known as radio waves: what it is and how it happens
• Encyclopædia Britannica (1911): Hertz biography

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. (July 2011)

Ernst Peter Fischer

Ernst Peter Fischer (born 18 January 1947 in Wuppertal) is a German historian of science, and a science publicist.

Life and Work[link]

Ernst Peter Fischer studied mathematics, physics and biology and graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1977. In 1987 he qualified as a university lecturer in the history of science, and taught as a professor at the University of Konstanz. Between 1989 and 1999 he was publisher of the Mannheimer Forum This position was previously held by Hoimar von Ditfurth.

During his free days, Fischer also engaged in scientific journalism, as well as spending time as a mentor. He worked as a publisher for the Stiftung Forum für Verantwortung.

As a science publisher, Fisher wrote articles for several newspapers. Among them were GEO, Bild der Wissenschaft, Die Weltwoche and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Awards[link]

Fischer's published work has received multiple awards.^[1]

• 2002: Lorenz-Oken-Medaille
• 2003: Treviranus-Medaille
• 2003: Eduard-Rhein-Kulturpreis
• 2004: Medaille für Naturwissenschaftliche Publizistik der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft
• 2004: Sartorius-Preis der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen
• 2011: Honorary member of the Naturforschende Gesellschaft zu Emden

Published works[link]

• Warum Spinat nur Popeye stark macht. Mythen und Legenden in der modernen Wissenschaft. Pantheon Verlag, München 2011, ISBN 978-3-570-55123-3.
• Information - eine kurze Geschichte in 5 Kapiteln. Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart 2010, ISBN 978-3-941787-15-5.
• Die Hintertreppe zum Quantensprung. Die Erforschung der kleinsten Teilchen der Natur von Max Planck bis Anton Zeilinger. Herbig Verlag, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-7766-2643-8.
• Laser - Eine deutsche Erfolgsgeschichte von Einstein bis heute. Siedler-Verlag, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-88680-946-2.
• Die Charité: Ein Krankenhaus in Berlin - 1710 bis heute. Siedler-Verlag, München 2009, ISBN 978-3-88680-880-9.
• Die kosmische Hintertreppe: Die Erforschung des Himmels von Aristoteles bis Stephen Hawking. Nymphenburger Verlag, München 2009, ISBN 978-3-485-01186-0.
• Der kleine Darwin. Alles, was man über Evolution wissen sollte. Pantheon Verlag, München 2009, ISBN 978-3-570-55087-8.
• Das große Buch der Evolution. Fackelträger Verlag, Köln 2008, ISBN 978-3-7716-4373-7.
• Einfach klug: 60 Ratschläge für ein gelingendes Leben. Nymphenburger Verlag, München 2009, ISBN 978-3-485-01118-1.
• Irren ist bequem: Wissenschaft quer gedacht. Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-440-11098-0.
• Der Physiker: Max Planck und das Zerfallen der Welt. Siedler Verlag, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-570-55116-5.
• Max Planck - ein Porträt. Eine Vorlesung (auf DVD) von Ernst Peter Fischer über die Physik, das tragische Leben, sowie Religiosität und Philosophie von Max Planck. Rezension - Komplett Media GmbH, 2007, DVD: ISBN 978-3-8312-9522-7 CD: ISBN 978-3-8312-6225-0.
• Die Nachtseite der Wissenschaft. Vorlesung aus der Reihe "uni-auditorium", Audio CD, Komplett Media, Juni 2007, ISBN 978-3-8312-6194-9.
• Schrödingers Katze auf dem Mandelbrotbaum: Durch die Hintertür zur Wissenschaft. Pantheon Verlag, München 2006, ISBN 978-3-442-15510-1.
• Brücken zum Kosmos: Wolfgang Pauli zwischen Kernphysik und Weltharmonie. Libelle Verlag, Lengwil (CH) 2005, ISBN 978-3-909081-44-8.
• Einstein trifft Picasso und geht mit ihm ins Kino oder: Die Erfindung der Moderne. Piper Verlag, München 2005, ISBN 978-3-492-04682-4.
• Einstein für die Westentasche. Piper Verlag, München 2005, ISBN 978-3-492-04685-5.
• Was Professor Kuckuck noch nicht wusste. (mit Henning Genz) Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 2004, ISBN 978-3-499-61580-1.
• Die Bildung des Menschen: Was die Naturwissenschaften über uns wissen. Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 978-3-550-07606-0.
• Stille Kräfte, große Fülle: Die Geschichte der Südchemie AG. Piper Verlag, München 2004, ISBN 978-3-492-04582-7.
• Einstein, Hawking, Singh & Co.: Bücher, die man kennen muß. Piper Verlag, München 2004, ISBN 978-3-492-04551-3.
• Geschichte des Gens. James D. Watson und die neue Wissenschaft vom Leben. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 978-3-596-15363-3.
• Am Anfang war die Doppelhelix: James D. Watson und die neue Wissenschaft vom Leben. Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 978-3-550-07566-7.
• Das Genom. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 978-3-596-15362-6.
• Das genetische Abenteuer. My favourite book, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 978-3-936143-19-5.
• Images & Imagination. Editiones Roche, Basel 2001, ISBN 978-3-907770-86-3.
• Werner Heisenberg: Das selbstvergessene Genie. Piper Verlag, München 2001, ISBN 978-3-492-03855-3.
• Die andere Bildung. Was man von den Naturwissenschaften wissen sollte. Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-550-07151-5.
• An den Grenzen des Denkens: Wolfgang Pauli - Ein Nobelpreisträger über die Nachtseiten der Wissenschaft. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 2000, ISBN 978-3-451-04842-5.
• Leonardo, Heisenberg & Co.: Eine kleine Geschichte der Wissenschaft in Porträts. Piper Verlag, München 2000, ISBN 978-3-492-03942-0.
• Aristoteles, Einstein & Co.: Eine kleine Geschichte der Wissenschaft in Porträts. Piper Verlag, München 1995, ISBN 978-3-492-04817-0.
• Ernst Peter Fischer and Carol Lipson: Thinking About Science. Max Delbrück and the Origins of Molecular Biology. Rezension W.W. Norton & Company, New York 1988, ISBN 978-0-393-02508-8

References[link]

1. ^ Biografie bei Econ Referentenagentur

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ernst Peter Fischer

• Literature by and about Ernst Peter Fischer in the German National Library catalogue
• Persönliche Website von Ernst Peter Fischer
• Fischers Science-Blog
• E. P. Fischer: Der Affe als Mensch, der Mensch als Affe. Darwin und seine Evolutionstheorie. SWR2 Aula Sendung Sendung - Manuskript - Vortrag hören

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

Willoughby Sharp (January 23, 1936 – December 17, 2008) was an internationally known artist, independent curator, independent publisher, gallerist, teacher, author, and telecom activist.^[1]

Biography[link]

Born in New York City, Sharp studied art history at Brown University and graduated with a BA in 1957.^[2] He undertook graduate study in art history at the University of Paris, the University of Lausanne, and Columbia University.^[3] Sharp began his media work in 1967 by shooting a small number of films in 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm including “Earth,” (1968, Collection: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) and “Place & Process,” (1969, Collection: MoMA, New York). After these films, he started producing a prodigious body of video works in 1/2, 3/4 and 1-inch tape. These works included video sculpture, video installations, “Videoviews,” (1970–1974), Videoperformances (1973–1977), cable television programs (1985–1986), and broadcast TV programs (2001-).

In February 1969, at the invitation of Hans Haacke, he presented a three-part video installation, “Earthscopes,” at Cooper Union, N.Y., which included the only showing of a video catalogue of the historic “Earth Art” exhibition that he had curated at the Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. In March 1969, Sharp created “Einstein’s Eye,” a closed-circuit b/w video sculpture exhibited at the Richard L. Feigen Gallery in Soho, N.Y.

The following year, Sharp’s film “Place and Process” was included in MoMA’s “INFORMATION” exhibition curated by Kynaston McShine. Also in 1970, Sharp curated “Body Works,” an exhibition of Video art with works by Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Terry Fox, Keith Sonnier, Dennis Oppenheim and William Wegman which was presented at Tom Marioni's Museum of Conceptual Art, San Francisco, California.

At the San Jose State TV studios in 1970, Sharp began the “Videoviews” series of videotaped dialogues with artists which he continued after he bought one of the first Sony 3400 Porta-Pac video recording systems in 1972. The “Videoviews” series consists of Sharp's dialogues with Bruce Nauman (1970), Joseph Beuys (1972), Vito Acconci (1973), Chris Burden (1973), Lowell Darling (1974), and Dennis Oppenheim (1974). More recently, working with ARTENGINE, N.Y., a collaborative video production/post-production company in partnership with Duff Schweninger, Mr. Sharp has produced an ongoing series of 30-minute documentary programs on Dennis Oppenheim (2001), Keith Sonnier (2002), Earle Brown (2002), and Morton Subotnick (2003).

In 1976, under an NEA grant to Center for New Art Activities, Inc., he co-produced [with Liza Bear] “Five Video Pioneers: Vito Acconci, Richard Serra, Willoughby Sharp, Keith Sonnier, William Wegman (Collection: MoMA, N.Y.). That year he also represented the United States in the Venice Biennale.

Shortly afterward, Sharp started to produce a series of international, multi-casting, pre-Internet projects which simultaneously interlaced information from computers, telefax, In September 1977, he participated in Send/Receive Satellite Network: Phase II, co-produced and directed by Keith Sonnier and Liza Bear in collaboration with a group of San Francisco and New York artists; this was the first trans-continental interactivesatellite work made by artists. His participation in Send/Receive in part led to Sharp’s current preoccupation with global collaborative work through a series of interactive telecommunications and streaming transmissions. This ongoing series of projects honors the accomplishments of electrical geniuses Guglielmo Marconi (1981), Heinrich Hertz (1986) and Nikola Tesla (2005-2006). In 2006 his interview with Serkan Ozkaya (conceptual artist) has been published under the title Have You Ever Done Anything Right? in English and Spanish, by Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien and Smart Art Press.

Beginning in 1964 with "POP ART" at Columbia University, N.Y., Sharp independently curated numerous important exhibitions. Among others these include: "Robert Rauschenberg" (1964) Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany; "LIGHT, MOTION, SPACE" (1967) Walker Art Center; "KINETIC ENVIRONMENTS I AND II" (1967) Central Park, N.Y.; "AIR ART" (1968) Philadelphia and six other locations; "KINETICISM: SYSTEMS SCULPTURE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATIONS" (1968) Mexico City; "EARTH ART" (1969) Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; "PLACE AND PROCESS" (1969) Edmonton, Canada; "PROJECTS: PIER 18" (1971) MoMA, N.Y.; "JOSEPH BEUYS" (1973) Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., N.Y.; "VIDEOPERFORMANCE' (1974) 112 Greene Street Gallery, N.Y.

Since 1969, Sharp has had more than 20 solo exhibitions at museums, and art galleries such as: Brown University; the University Art Museum, Berkeley, California; The Museum of Conceptual Art, San Francisco; CAYA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; the University of Iowa; the Ontario College of Art, Toronto; the University of California, Los Angeles; the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Pumps Gallery, Vancouver. His work has also been seen in many group shows in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

Willoughby Sharp died December 17, 2008, after a long battle with throat cancer.^[4] On October 15, 2009 a memorial was held for Sharp at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and among the speakers were Dennis Oppenheim, Les Levine , Ronald Feldman , Liza Bear , Carolee Schneeman, and his widow Pamela Seymour Smith Sharp.

Exhibitions Curated[link]

1964 POP ART: AN ART HISTORICAL APPROACH, Columbia University, NY. Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann. A symposium on Pop Art at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25, 1964 , Horace Mann Auditorium, Columbia University. Moderated by Professor Meyer Schapiro with Lawrence Alloway, William Rubin, and Alan Solomon. No Catalogue.

1964 ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany, September 12 – October 18. Exhibition included 60 works, 26 paintings and 34 Dante Drawings. Catalogue. 20 pages, 12-5/8” X 9-5/8”. Introductory essay Robert Rauschenberg and the Objekt, by Willoughby Sharp. In English and German.

1966 KINETICISM, American Abstract Artists, NY. One day exhibition. Yaakov Agam, Pol Bury, Davide Boriani, Martha Boto, Alexander Calder, Hans Haacke, Julio Le Parc, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Jesus Rafael Soto, Takis, Jean Tinguely, Gunther Uecker. One day show. Catalogue. 6 pages, 8-1/4” X 5-7/8”, illustrated, with text, "Kineticism" by Willoughby Sharp.

1966 GUNTHER UECKER, Alfred Schmela Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany, September 9 – 29. Catalogue. 6 pages, 8-1/4” X 5-7/8”, illustrated, with text by Willoughby Sharp.

1966 GUNTHER UECKER, Howard Wise Gallery, NY, November 1–19. Catalogue. 16 pages, 9-11/16” X 6-5/8” illustrated, with essay "Uecker, Zero and the Kinetic Spirit" by Willoughby Sharp.

1967 SLOW-MOTION, Rutgers University, NJ. Curated by Willoughby Sharp at the invitation of John Goodyear. Artists included:Antonio Asis, Davide Boriani, Robert Breer, Pol Bury, Alexander Calder, Gianni Colombo, Marcel Duchamp, Hans Haacke, Heinz Mack, Bruno Munari, George Rickey, Marcello Salvadori, Keith Sonnier, Jesus-Rafael Soto, Man Ray, Takis, Jean Tinguely, Gunther Uecker, USCO, John Van Saun, Gabriele de Vecchi. Catalogue. 6 pages, 8-1/4” X 5-7/8”, illustrated, with text "Kineticism and Slow-Motion" by Willoughby Sharp.

1967 LIGHT–MOTION-SPACE, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN. and the Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI. Stephen Antonakis, Ben Berns, Davide Boriani, Martha Boto, Chryssa, John Goodyear, Julio Le Parc, Heinz Mack, Preston McClanahan, Boyd Mefferd, Nam June Paik, Abraham Palatnick, Otto Piene, Martial Raysse, Thomas Tadlock, Takis, Gunther Uecker, John Van Saun, Gilles Larrain, others. Catalogue. 20 pages, 8” X 7-1/2”, illustrated with design and text "Luminism: Notes Toward an Understanding Of Light Art" by Willoughby Sharp.

1967 LUMINISM, The Artists Club, NY. One day exhibition. Stephen Antonakis, Bernard Aubertin, Ben Berns, Dan Flavin, Horacio Garcia-Rossi, John Goodyear, Richard Hogle, Hoppe, Lila Katzen, Gilles Larrain, Julio Le Parc, Heinz Mack, Preston McClanahan, Nam June Paik, Abraham Palatnick, Leo Rabkin, Marcello Salvadori, Takis, Gunther Uecker, USCO, John Van Saun, Williams, Zerlo. Catalogue. 6 pages, 8-1/4” X 5-7/8”, illustrated, with design and text by Willoughby Sharp. Published by Kineticism Press.

1967 KINETIC ENVIRONMENTS ONE & TWO, Central Park, NY. Hans Haacke, Richard Hogle, Gilles Larrain, Preston McClanahan, Charles Ross, Willoughby Sharp, John Van Saun. Kinetic Environment One, one day in April Kinetic Environment Two, one day in September

No catalogue.

1968 KINETICISM: SYSTEMS SCULPTURE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATIONS (Official Olympic Games Exhibition), University Museum of Arts and Science, Mexico City, Mexico. Yaakov Agam, Hans Breder, Lucio Fontana, Hans Haacke, Julio Le Parc, Les Levine, Len Lye, Heinz Mack, Preston McClanahan, David Medalla, Robert Morris, Otto Piene, Jesus Rafael Soto, Takis, Jean Tinguely, Gunther Uecker, John Van Saun, Robert Whitman. Catalogue. 60 pages, 8-5/8” X 9-5/8”, illustrated with design and text by Willoughby Sharp.

1968-1969 AIR ART, Arts Council, YM/YWHA, Philadelphia, PA (March 13 – 31, 1968); Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH (April 25 – May 19, 1968); Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Peoria, Illinois (June 7 – 28, 1968); University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, CA (January 13 – February 16, 1969); Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH (February 25 – March 18, 1969) Hans Haacke, Kanayama, Les Levine, Preston McClanahan, David Medalla, Robert Morris, Marcello Salvadori, Graham Stevens, John Van Saun, Andy Warhol. Catalogue. 40 pages, 8” X 8”. Design and production by Preston McClanahan and Willoughby Sharp. Text, "Air Art", by Willoughby Sharp. Published by Kineticism Press.

1969 EARTH ART, Willoughby Sharp, at the invitation of Tom Leavitt, curated "Earth Art" at the Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Artists in the exhibition included Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Hans Haacke, Michael Heizer, Neil Jenney, Richard Long, David Medalla, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson, Gunther Uecker. Catalogue. 96 pages. Approx. 5” X 9”, illustrated. "Earth Art" published in 1970 with an introductory essay by Willoughby Sharp. Avalanche 1 was devoted to "Earth Art." (Also 6,000 feet of B/W silent film of each of the artists making their works at Ithaca, commissioned by Willoughby Sharp). Gordon Matta-Clark, who lived in Ithaca at the time, was invited by Willoughby Sharp to help the artists in "Earth Art" with the on-site execution of their works for the exhibition. Sharp then encouraged Matta-Clark to move to New York City where Sharp continued to introduce him to members of the New York art world.

1969 PLACE & PROCESS, The Edmonton Art Gallery, Alberta, Canada. Ian Baxter, Jan Dibbets, Hans Haacke, Bruce McLean, Les Levine, Richard Long, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, Klaus Rinke, John Van Saun, William Wegmen, Lawrence Weiner. No catalogue. 30 minute 16mm color/sound film, Place & Process, directed by Willoughby Sharp and Evander Schley and cinematography by Robert Fiori. Shown on Canadian National Television, CBC.

1970 BODY WORKS an exhibition of Video art with works by Vito Acconci, Terry Fox, Richard Serra, Keith Sonnier, Dennis Oppenheim and William Wegman which was presented at Tom Marioni's Museum of Conceptual Art, San Francisco, California.

1970 THIS IS YOUR ROOF exhibition is presented at the international art festival held in Pamplona, Spain. Willoughby Sharp produces a series of videos, mainly documentaries on the activities of New York artists, for the same event.

1971 PROJECTS: PIER 18, The Museum of Modern Art, NY. June, 1971. Vito Acconci, David Askevold, John Baldessari, Robert Barry, Bill Beckley, Mel Bochner, Daniel Buren, Jan Dibbets, Terry Fox, Dan Graham, Douglas Huebler, Lee Jaffe, Richards Jarden, Gordon Matta-Clark, Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Dennis Oppenheim, Allen Ruppersberg, Italo Scanga, Richard Serra, Michael Snow, Keith Sonnier, Wolfgang Stoerchle, George Trakas, John Van Saun, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner. Approximately 600 photographs were exhibited. No catalogue at the exhibition. Photographs of the exhibition by Harry Shunk and Jean Kender were subsequently shown at the Musee d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice which published a catalogue, 164 pages .10-5/8” X 9”.

1971 Vito Acconci,Claim, 93 Grand Street, NY, September 10, 1971. A four-hour closed-circuit live video performance.

1971 William Beckley, bird (nightingale) on see saw, September 17, 18 and 19, 93 Grand Street, 8 until midnight. An installation with video and bird.

1971 William Wegman, Bobbing for Twins/Bobbing for Apples, 93 Grand Street, New York, NY. Live video performance/video tape

1971 Terry Fox, Yeast, 93 Grand Street, NY, October 1, 1971. Videotaped performance.

1973 JOSEPH BEUYS, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., NY. Beuys’ first show in the U.S. No catalogue. The show consisted of a video program,"Willoughby Sharp Videoviews Joseph Beuys."

1973 AVALANCHE DIE ENTWICKLUNG EINER AVANTGARDE-ZEITSCHRIFT, Cologne Kunstverein, March 23 to April 23: Hanover Kunstverein, May 27 – July 22; Munster Kunstverein, Fall 1973; Frankfurt Kunstverein, Fall 1973. No catalogue.

1974 VIDEOPERFORMANCE, 112 Greene Street, Gallery, NY. Vito Acconci, Joseph Beuys, Chris Burden, Dennis Oppenheim, Ulrike Rosenbach, Richard Serra, Willoughby Sharp, Keith Sonnier, William Wegman. Avalanche magazine Issue Number 9 serves as a catalogue for this exhibition.

1979-1980 Joseph Beuys, Guggenheim Retrospective. Willoughby Sharp, Curator, video and film. Catalogue.

1984 Joseph Nechvatal, Machine Language Book by Willoughby Sharp, 74 pages

1988 Lawrence Weiner, Fine Arts Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston Rhode Island. No catalogue.

1989 Joan Jonas, Fine Arts Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston Rhode Island. No catalogue.

1990 MICROSCULPTURE, Fine Arts Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island. Catalogue. 40 pages. Illustrated, black and white. Introductory text by Willoughby Sharp

1990 Adrian Piper, Fine Arts Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island. No catalogue.

2001 CUANDO, Alan Scarritt, Duff Schweninger, Ben Knight, Tom Warren, et al. catalogue.

2003 POLARITIES, The Lobby Gallery, 1155 Avenue of the Americas, NY, February 20-March 24.John Ahearn, Claudia Vargas, Jene Highstein, Joan Jonas, Nancy Lorenz, Marisol, Joseph Nechvatal, Michele Oka Doner, Dennis Oppenheim, Tom Otterness, Alan Scarritt, Duff Schweninger, Keith Sonnier, John Torreano, Tom Warren, Lawrence Weiner. Brochure catalogue.

Magazine Contributions[link]

In 1968, Sharp co-founded Avalanche magazine (in publication from 1970-1976) with writer/filmmaker Liza Béar.^[5] and published interviews he and Béar conducted with contemporary artists such as Vito Acconci, Dennis Oppenheim, William Wegman, and Yvonne Rainer.^[6]

Sharp has been the contributing editor to four publications: Impulse, Toronto, Canada (1979–1981); Video magazine, San Francisco (1980–1982); Art Com, San Francisco (1984–1985), and the East Village Eye, N.Y. (1984–1986). He has published three monographs on contemporary artists, contributed to many exhibition catalogues and has written articles, essays, and interviews featured in Artforum, Art In America, Arts magazine, Avalanche magazine, Laica Journal, Quadrum, Rhobo, and Studio International.

Teaching career[link]

Mr. Sharp taught on the faculties of the School of Visual Arts, Humanities and Science Department (1984–1988); the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, where he was also the director of the Fine Arts Center (1988–1990); and the New School University, Parsons The New School for Design, Graduate Faculty, Digital Design Department, N.Y. (2000–2003). For the last 38 years he has been a visiting artist at numerous art institutions and he has shown his video in museums in the U.S. and abroad.

Collaboration with Joseph Beuys[link]

Sharp met Joseph Beuys in Düsseldorf in 1958. From then until Beuy’s death in 1986, they had a close, collaborative relationship. Sharp was instrumental in bringing Beuys’ work to the attention of the American art world. Starting with an ARTFORUM interview (December, 1969), he also featured Beuys in the first issue of Avalanche magazine (1970). Then in 1972, Sharp produced the Beuys Videoview which constituted Beuys’ first solo show in New York at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., N.Y. He also produced “Public Dialogue” in which Beuys performed as part of Mr. Sharp’s “Videoperformance” exhibition in 1974. In 1974, at Beuys’ request, Sharp videotaped “I Like America, America Likes Me” his performance at the Rene Block Gallery, New York, which has recently been released as “America” (1974–2003). In 1979, Beuys invited Sharp to curate the film/video sections of his retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Accolades[link]

Sharp has received numerous grants, awards and fellowships both as an individual or under the sponsorship of the three non-profit arts organizations that he co-founded.

1. The Center for New Art Activities, Inc. N.Y.
2. The Franklin Street Arts Center, Inc. New York

WORLDPOOL, Toronto, Canada

• A DAAD Berlin grant with Pamela Seymour Smith, (2006)
• An Emily Harvey Foundation artists-in-residence grant with Pamela Seymour Smith (2006)
• An ACE award (1986)
• The Department of Communications, Canadian Government (1981)
• The Canada Council, Explorations Department, (1981)
• The NEA (1976–1978, 1980–1981)
• The New York State Council on the Arts (1975–1977, 1979, 1985)
• A Rockefeller Foundation individual artists grant (1971)

Museum Collections[link]

His video and film works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, N.Y.; ZKM (Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie) in Karlsruhe, Germany; The Collection of the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island; the National Art Gallery, Ottawa, Canada; The Western Front, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as well as many private collections worldwide.

Body of Work[link]

• Joseph Beuys' America (1974–2003) 12 min
• Earle Brown By Artengine, New York (2002) 28 min
• Dennis Oppenheim By Artengine, New York (2001) 28 min
• Keith Sonnier By Artengine, New York (2002) 28 min
• Who Killed Heinrich Hertz? (1986–1987) 20 min
• Willoughby Sharp's Downtown New York (1986) 58 min
• Art And Telecommunications (1983) 60 min
• The Space Shuttle Is A Robot (1983) 20 min
• Willoughby Sharp's Beta 1: DBS (1982) 20 min
• Five Video Pioneers: Acconci, Serra, Sharp, Sonnier & Wegman (1977) 30 min
• Two-Way Demo(1977) 20 min
• Willoughby Sharp Videoviews Chris Burden (1975) 27:45 min
• Art Stars in Hollywood: The DeccaDance (with Chip Lord and Megan Williams) (1974) 60 min
• Art Stars Interviews (with Chip Lord and Megan Williams) (1974) 60 min
• Joseph Beuys' Public Dialogue (1974) 120 min
• Willoughby Sharp's Videoperformances (1973–1974) 58 min
• Chris Burden Videoview (1973) 30 min
• Joseph Beuys Videoview (1973) 30 min
• Vito Acconci Videoview (1973) 30 min

External links[link]

• artnet, Charlie Finch, Remembering Willoughby
• artcritical.com Tobey Crockett Tribute: Willoughby Sharp, 1936 – 2008
• Obituary, New York Times 12/31/08
• Earth Art Interviews: Willoughby Sharp and Dennis Oppenheim by Bil Thompson
• Sharpville: A meeting place for friends & lovers of Willoughby Sharp
• Selected video works distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix, Inc., New York
• Willoughby Sharp Videoviews Vito Acconci (1973) UbuWeb Film & Video

References[link]

Performance artists