Herbert Brün Society

This tape was found, on VHS, separate from the Maria Silva tapes, and I think it was produced by Carol Huang. There is a woman’s voice from behind the camera, laughing at one or another of Brün’s jokes, and in the final minutes of the tape a woman asks a question from near the camera (Brün looks in the direction of the camera to respond to her). I know Carol Huang and it sounds like her. I’ve logged the footage below.

-Rob Scott, Jan. 8, 2010

Frame from 25′42”: Screengrab of Herbert Brün speaking at the School for Designing a Society buiding at 409 N. Race St. This was the first installment of his presentation at the “Wild Card” series, and he presented on his early life (before moving to the United States in 1962). The first presentation focused mainly on his childhood in the interwar period, the rise of nazism in Germany, and his expatriation to British Palestine.

Pictured (left to right): Meadow Jones, Cora, Herbert Brün, Sean Lee-Popham, Tony Maculuso, Bob Cook, Susan Parenti. Also present (not pictured): Christine Carr, Lorien Carsey, Eric Hiltner, Laura Haber, Steve Sloan, probably several others.

Frame from 1 04′50″: Screengrab of Herbert Brün speaking at the School for Designing a Society buiding at 409 N. Race St. This was the second installment of his presentation at the “Wild Card” series, and he presented on his early life (before moving to the United States in 1962). The second presentation focused mainly on his transition from Israel to Europe in the 1950s.

0:00:00 – Herbert Brün introduction – he explains there will be 4 main chapters:
- – - – - – -(1) Germany, (2) Israel, (3) Europe, (4) USA.
- – - – - – -- Childhood in Germany
- – - – - – -- Radio with Father
- – - – - – -- Father’s answering service
- – - – - – -- School: 19th century knowledge
- – - – - – -- right-wing clubs
- – - – - – -- 1930 – father decided I shouldn’t go to school
- – - – - – -- 1933 – school decided I shouldn’t go to school
- – - – - – -- undedicated electrician’s apprentice (for security reasons)
- – - – - – -- newspapers
- – - – - – -- audition for Jerusalem Music Conservatory
0:34:02 – Herbert Brün takes a ship from Genoa (Italy) to Haifa (British Palestine)
- – - – - – -in 1936 at the age of 18.
- – - – - – -- 1942 – parents are lost in Auschwitz; Brün decides not to tell anyone.
- – - – - – -- Brün meets Stephan Wolpe in Palestine (1936-38)
- – - – - – -- the WC (Water Closet / World Conservatory) affair
- – - – - – -- nightclub pianist work begins
- – - – - – -- Noa Eshkol
- – - – - – -- Meadow Jones suggests a pause until next week.
0:50:52 – NEXT WEEK (continuation)
- – - – - – -- 1948 – state of Israel is declared
- – - – - – -- 1955 – Brün left
- – - – - – -- The Arab-Israeli War was anti-British
- – - – - – -- Kwutza & Kibbutzim
- – - – - – -- USA in 1962
- – - – - – -- Same year the state of Israel was declared, Brün got a scholarship to
- – - – - – -Tanglewood.
- – - – - – -- At Tanglewood, Brün helped Lenny Bernstein lecture on Mahler’s
- – - – - – -influence on Schoenberg.
- – - – - – -- After Tanglewood, Brün started composing and was introduced to
- – - – - – -theater.
- – - – - – -- Israel became too reminiscent of the rise of Fascism in Germany
- – - – - – -- Feldencrist paid Herbert Brün’s taxes, so that he could leave Israel.
- – - – - – -- 1956 – Herbert Brün meets Marianne Kortner
- – - – - – -- 1955 – HB goes to France, and tours as a piano accompanist for
- – - – - – -officers’ clubs.
- – - – - – -- He met Marianne in Germany.
- – - – - – -- He worked on 14 plays with Fritz Kortner (Marianne’s father), in
- – - – - – -Munich, until 1962.
- – - – - – -- Herbert and Marianne married in 1962.
1:34:25 – Question (from Carol Huang?) about Herbert Brün’s mother.
- – - – - – -- Quetsion (from Eric Hiltner) about Herbert Brün’s younger sister.
- – - – - – -1:36:30 – end of footage

Outline by Rob Scott

0:00:00 Meadow’s Introduction with Interrupting ensemble and Molly Stentz
0:03:30 Susan Parenti tap dance and flute piece (with Loba?)
0:07:30 Meadow
0:09:19 “Apology” by Susan Parenti performed by ___, ___, and Lorien Carsey
0:13:10 piece by Justin Smith and Dan Green
0:19:48 “The Profit Organ” by Tony Maculuso
0:23:10 Kord Russell and Justin Smith
0:24:50 Meadow Jones getting organized
0:26:43 WHEN is ONE? by Herbert Brün, performed by all
0:28:40 Jeff Glassman and Michael Holloway
0:35:28 Mark Enslin pivot piece — squeeking sounds starting as though the tape was screwed up.
0:37:20 First Intermission announcement
0:38:00 Cut to somewhere in the middle of the second act — Jeff Glassman dancing for Michael Holloway, Mark Enslin, and Susan Parenti
0:40:00 Steve Sloan and Brandon Bowersox present Sloan’s piece on the Psychiatrist
0:46:50 A piece by Mark Sarich performed b Mark Sarich, Ed Schneider, Nick Hennies, Dan Green, and Justin Smith
0:53:30 Jeff Glassman, Michael Holloway, Mark Enslin, and Susan Parenti
1:04:50 Second Intermission announcement
1:05:00 Piece with ___, ___, and Meadow Jones
1:07:49 Sam Markewich and Anne Bargar
1:16:12 Tony Maculoso
1:20:30 Meadow on Public|Private
1:21:48 Brian Hagy piece
1:28:55 “The Status Quo” by Herbert Brün performed by all
1:31:58 dead air

Footage outlined by Rob Scott

0:00:00 Pre-footage
0:00:09 History and Future of Political Song
1:05:12 Discussion with New College students

Outline of footage by Rob Scott.

In the Herbert Brün library at the Herbert Brün House in Urbana, in the file cabinets, the folder labeled “Education Folder 24″ contains the program, and some scraps of paper form Herbert Brün, from the 1993 meeting of the American Society for Cybernetics. The Conference topic was “Cybernetics in the Art of Learning”. Having read the program, I cannot discern which session this video depicts, but it appears to be during the first day of the conference, and Herbert eventually presents his Floating Hierarchies compositions.
–Rob Scott Nov. 9, 2009

This particular video has a title page. The footage is described in the program as November 6 during Parallel Sessions 11:00a.m.-1:00 p.m.:

Making Reference – Explorations in the Construction of Language
Hunt Room
Knot Logic, Louis H Kauffman
Living and Working in the I of Language, Annetta Padretti
Wotnots: Wot! Knots ‘N Nots – Knots are Hot and HyperKnots Hotter, Gordon Pask
Conversation and Discussion, Lou Kauffman, Annetta Pedretti, Gordon Pask, and Audience
Gordon Pask, chair

At minute 54′30″ Herbert Brün challenges the audience that saying “what relevance does this have?” is an insult. There are many other good comments and questions in the discussion.

The final 11 minutes of the following:

Conversations on Art
Regency 2
Music, Herbert Brün, Susan Parenti, Don Share and Mark Sullivan in conversation.
What is the Meaning of Cybernetics to Art? , Annetta Padretti, Patricia
Clough, Glenn Davidson, Anne Hayes, and Frank Galuszka in conversation.
Susan Parenti, moderator

At minute 11′20” there is a CUT to footage from Parallel Sessions 11:00a.m.-1:00 p.m.:

Management and Structure
Regency 2
Beyond Dragons, Copernicus, and Love, Elizabeth White
Organizational Autopoiesis: Toward a Process Framework, Fred Steier
Organizational Learning and Cybernetics Thinking, Jon-Arild Johannessen
Paul Pangaro, chair

The remaining footage is from this session.

Notes by Rob Scott

From a the 1993 Conference of the American Society of Cybernetics, Cybernetics in the Art of Learning, November 3-7 at the Barclay Hotel in Philadelphia. The program for the conference (found in the Herbert Brün House/Library in Urbana, in Education Folder 24 contained the following item on November 4, under Conversations 4:00-5:00pm:

Maledetto by Kenneth Gaburo
East English Room
Performers Workshop Ensemble

Performers Workshop Ensemble included (in this performance) Lisa Fay, Rick Burkhardt, Susan Parenti, Mark Enslin, William Gillespie, Jeff Glassman ???, ??? and ???
BREAK/CUT
The next length of footage is of a panel discussion, starting between minute 50 and minute 55 somewhere, with Susan Parenti, Herbert Brün, ???, and Frank Galuska. It might have to be this event listed as November 5 during Parallel Sessions 9:00a.m.-11:00 p.m.:

Conversations on Art
Regency 2
Music, Herbert Brün, Susan Parenti, Don Share and Mark Sullivan in conversation.
What is the Meaning of Cybernetics to Art? , Annetta Padretti, Patricia
Clough, Glenn Davidson, Anne Hayes, and Frank Galuszka in conversation.
Susan Parenti, moderator

Outline of footage by Rob Scott.

In the Herbert Brün library at the Herbert Brün House in Urbana, in the file cabinets, the folder labeled “Education Folder 24″ contains the program, and some scraps of paper form Herbert Brün, from the 1993 meeting of the American Society for Cybernetics. The Conference topic was “Cybernetics in the Art of Learning”. The program for November 6 includes the following under Parallel Sessions 3:00-4:00:

What the Emerging Economy Tells Us Will Work in the Future
Great Hall
Russ Ackoff, Frank Galuszka, Humberto Maturana, Gordon Pask, Chris Berendes, Don Schon, Paul Pangaro, Heinz von Foerster
Michael Geoghehan, chair

The final 12 minutes of the discussion are included. Then, at about minute 12′10” there is a CUT to the introduction of Larry Goldfarb. The remaining footage is from this event (again from the conference program):

Plenary 4:30-6:30pm
Great Hall
Meaningful Action: Why Robots Fall Down
Larry Goldfarb, Humberto Maturana, Heinz Von Foerster
Bob Schoenholtz, introducer

Herbert Brün asks a question to the panel approximately 1 hour 50 minutes into the footage.

Notes from the tape insert: SDaS July 7 1995 Dinner Celebration.