By Spenser Bailey
Title: Jeff Glassman Papers, 1967-2006
ID: 26/20/244
Primary Creator: Jeff Glassman (1949-)
Other Creators: United Mime Workers (1971-1986)
Extent: 4.7 cubic feet
Subjects: American Society for Cybernetics, Brün, Herbert (1918-2000), Cybernetics, Kabuki, Student Performance, Theatre
Formats/Genres: Experimental Music
Papers of Jeff Glassman (1949-), (LAS, Individual Plan of Study, Performing Arts and Experimental Composition, 1973). Includes articles, correspondence, mailings, notes, photographs, programs, writings and other material from Glassman’s extensive career as a mime, educator, and performing artist. Some material dates from his time at the University of Illinois, where he studied cybernetics and experimental music with Herbert and Marianne Brün and Heinz von Foerster, mime under Claude Kipnis, and kabuki under Professor Shozo Sato. In addition to his work in the arts and cybernetics, he also briefly worked with the Anasazi Origins Project.
Additional items relate to the United Mime Workers, a mime troupe co-founded by Glassman, Deborah Langerman, and Bob Feldman, which performed from the early 1970s to 1986.
Other material relates to Glassman’s involvement in arts and other organizations, including the Alliance for Cultural Democracy, the American Society for Cybernetics, the Champaign County Consortium for the Cultural Arts (CCCCA), the Performers’ Workshop Ensemble, and the Summer School for Designing Society.
Also includes cassette tapes of Professor Herbert Brün’s seminars and compositions, meetings of the Champaign County Consortium for the Cultural Arts, and performances by Glassman (including 1988’s “Self-Styled Communist” and the Performers’ Workshop Ensemble (“Imperial Fish Emporium,” 1988).
See "Administrative Information" link on the left side of this page for links to related collections.
Jeff Glassman (1949-) studied at the University of Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s, graduating in 1973 from the College of LAS with an Individual Plan of Study in Performing Arts and Experimental Composition. He learned mime from Claude Kipnis, and kabuki from Shozo Sato. He co-founded the Hardcore/Hard Core Mime Troupe, which became the United Mime Workers and performed around the world until 1986.
He was involved with the Champaign County Consortium for the Cultural Arts, the Performers' Workshop Ensemble, and other arts iniatives. Also, he studied cybernetics under Herbert and Marianne Brün and Heinz von Foerster. As of 2023, he remains an active performer and artist as one half of the Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman Duo.
American Society for Cybernetics
Brün, Herbert (1918-2000)
Cybernetics
Kabuki
Student Performance
Theatre
Repository: University of Illinois Archives
Acquisition Source: Jeff Glassman
Related Materials:
United Mime Workers Records, RS 41/75/47
Deborah Langerman Papers, RS 26/20/232
URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/2620244.pdf
PDF finding aid for Jeff Glassman Papers (26/20/244)