ZKM receives Archive by Aldo Tambellini
PRESS RELEASE
The ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe is honored to receive the archive of Aldo Tambellini, a visionary artist who made a lasting impact on 20th-century experimental media art. Tambellini, a pioneer of Expanded Cinema, Electromedia Performance, and Video Art, redefined artistic boundaries while engaging with critical social issues. This archive, donated by the Aldo Tambellini Art Foundation, offers not only a deeper understanding of Tambellini's work, but also opens new perspectives on the history of media art and performance in the 20th century.
"Black", noted Tambellini in 1967, "is the expansion of consciousness in all directions". The color black was a central motif in Tambellini's work from the 1960s onwards, expressing his spiritual, artistic and social perspectives. The color black drew on the aesthetic gestures of classical modernism, evoked the atrocities of the Second World War, and expressed Tambellini's fascination with space and his commitment to social justice.
Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1930, Tambellini spent his early years in Italy, returning to New York in 1946. In the 1960s, Tambellini became a pivotal figure in the New York avant-garde art scene, not only through his work but also as a cultural activist, creating structures and spaces that brought together the many diverse artistic voices. In 1962, Tambellini connected with UMBRA, a group of African American writers, poets, and intellectuals that focused on civil rights and made a significant impact by asserting their own distinctive voice in a radical way. That same year, he founded the Group Center, a collective uniting sculptors, poets, photographers, musicians, dancers, and filmmakers. In 1966, together with Elsa Tambellini, he opened The Gate Theater, an avant-garde cinema in New York’s East Village. The following year, he and Otto Piene established The Black Gate Theater, New York’s first venue for experimental performance, which became a magnet for avant-garde artists, including Yayoi Kusama, Nam June Paik, and Charlotte Moorman.
Trained initially in painting and sculpture, Tambellini began exploring new media in 1963, experimenting with projected 35mm slides on building facades. In the following years he developed immersive films, performances, and environments. His "Black Films" series (from 1965 onwards) is regarded as a masterpiece of Expanded Cinema. His 1968 performance "Black Zero" exemplified his pioneering Electromedia performances. Tambellini was also among the first artists to adopt video technology, acquiring his first video recorder in 1966. With "Black Gate Cologne", broadcast on German television in 1968, he and Otto Piene created one of the world’s first artworks conceived specifically for television. During his fellowship at the Massacusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies (1976–1984), Tambellini conceptualized "communicationsphere", an interactive social network that connected artists, engineers, and technicians globally, anticipating aspects of the internet.
A resurgence of interest in Tambellini’s work after the millennium led to numerous exhibitions and performances. His iconic "Black Zero" performance was re-staged at Performa 09 in New York in 2009, followed by exhibitions at Tate Modern (2012), the Italian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Art Biennale, and ZKM in 2017. Today, his works are held in major collections, including those of the Tate, ZKM, Albright-Knox Gallery, and the Rose Art Museum.
ZKM had enjoyed a long-standing and creative collaboration with Tambellini prior to his passing and has since maintained a supportive and productive relationship with the Aldo Tambellini Art Foundation. In 2017, ZKM hosted the first comprehensive retrospective of his work, "Aldo Tambellini: Black Matters". In 2020, ZKM’s Laboratory for Antiquated Video Systems digitized and preserved over 500 of Tambellini’s historical videotapes, safeguarding this invaluable material for future study. The acquisition of Tambellini's extensive archive significantly enriches ZKM’s archive, which is already a unique research resource for media art history. Tambellini’s archive includes manuscripts, personal notes, sketches, photographs, documentation of major projects, and rare video materials spanning over six decades of his career, providing a vital foundation for future scholarship and rich resource for upcoming exhibitions.
Anna Salamone, President, Aldo Tambellini Art Foundation:
"The Aldo Tambellini Art Foundation sought an ideal institution to serve as a steward of Aldo’s archive, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe emerged as the clear frontrunner. With the time-honored relationship of mutual respect and collaboration between Aldo and ZKM, this partnership is poised to flourish. ZKM’s esteemed reputation as a leader in artistic innovation and groundbreaking art forms guarantees that Aldo’s legacy will not only be preserved, but will also thrive through ZKM’s dedicated research, academic publishing, and preservation initiatives."
Margit Rosen, Head of Collections, Archives, and Research:
"Aldo Tambellini, whose important contributions to 20th-century art have only recently begun to be rediscovered, saw art as an important medium of political activism, while always insisting on the autonomy of aesthetic experimentation. The archive not only enables a deeper understanding of Tambellini's multifaceted work, but also allows for new perspectives on the history of media art and performance in the 20th century. We are honored to have been entrusted with the responsibility of preserving this treasure, the Aldo Tambellini Archive, and making it accessible to researchers and the public."
The acquisition of the Aldo Tambellini archive is a significant addition to the ZKM collection and underscores ZKM's commitment to preserving seminal contributions to media art and promoting research in the field. Tambellini's work is highly relevant today, serving as both a reference point and a catalyst for contemporary aesthetic and social discourse.
About the Aldo Tambellini Archive
For questions please contact: presse@zkm.de
