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Archival description
Murray Favro fonds
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Murray Favro fonds

  • LA.SC158
  • Fonds
  • [195-]-[200-]

Fonds consists of the personal and professional records of Murray Favro, documenting his life and activities as a multimedia artist and musician, as well as his personal interests and pursuits. It includes such textual records as notebooks, correspondence, contracts, grant applications, newspaper clippings, meeting notes, invitations, and records from Favro’s involvement with the 2020 Gallery and Forest City Gallery. Also included are records relating to exhibitions of Favro’s work, including two major retrospectives in 1983 and 1998. Throughout the fonds there are extensive notes and writings by Favro including installation instructions, project notes and ideas, drafts of documents and correspondence, and journal writings recording the artist’s thoughts on a wide range of topics. There are also textual records that were likely used for research and reference in Favro’s work, such as articles, photocopied pages from textbooks, catalogues, and other printed materials, often relating to technology and technical equipment such as projectors, computers, film and photography. Visual materials in the fonds include a watercolour painting, posters, photographs, drawings, and rough sketches and diagrams. Personal records include materials such as membership cards, schedules, and records from Favro’s interests and activities, such as flying lessons and motorcycles. Materials capturing his activities as a musician with the Nihilist Spasm Band include promotional posters and flyers, itineraries, set lists, expense lists for tours and performances, and other textual records. The fonds also includes one optical disc with samples from Favro’s digital projects.

The fonds has been arranged into a single series comprised of 64 files. The materials within each file may span a range of years and reflect a variety of activities. Details about the contents of each file can be found in the scope and content notes.

Favro, Murray

Hand-drawn circuitry diagrams, correspondence, and other materials

File consists of approximately 30 pages of textual records. Included are 13 pages of hand-drawn circuitry diagrams and notes for a "Digital Identification Unit (DIU)." There are also approximately 14 pages of handwritten notes covering a variety of Favro's thoughts and ideas, including those about technical progression, knowledge and intelligence, patents, and more. There is also a legend of symbols concerning "Wing sections and characteristics." Lastly, also included is a letter from Alvin Balkind, AGO Curator of Contemporary Art, to Favro, dated 8 August 1973 regarding a possible acquisition, a handwritten draft of Favro’s reply, and 1 page of questions for a patent attorney.

Nihilist Spasm Band 1996 Japan tour

File consists of approximately 18 pages of correspondence relating to Nihilist Spasm Band’s Japanese tour in 1996. There are 3 pages of correspondence from Alchemy Records from 1995, and 7 pages of duplicates. There are also two pages of correspondence from Forest City Gallery regarding the 1996 Japan tour, and 4 pages of duplicates.

20th Anniversary Forest City Gallery Catalogue and other materials

File consists of textual records including a number of handwritten notes and diagrams for a project (possibly "Synthetic Wave"), two copies of a printed diagram of an aircraft and its internal components, and a 20th Anniversary Issue of the Forest City Gallery catalogue for 1973-1993. Also includes a 3-page letter from Carmen Lamanna to Shonan McKay at Macleans Magazinefrom 1979, a handwritten letter from Nairn Publishing House from 1974, and a 2-page letter from Carmen Lamanna to Cathy Arthur with artscanada from 1981.

Personal and professional invitations and other materials

File consists of textual records and graphic material, spanning from approximately 1963 to 2002. Included is an invitation to Favro and Judith Mae Byron’s wedding from 1968, a brochure for the Cape Spear National Historical Site, 2 copies of an invitation to the opening of "Murray Favro: A Retrospective" at the National Gallery of Canada from 1984, an invitation to the Members' Preview of "Murray Favro: A Retrospective" at the Art Gallery of Ontario, an invitation to "Murray Favro: Air Show" at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery, an invitation from the Canadian Ambassador in France, 9 postcards, a 1963 Vehicle/ Equipment Daily Work Ticket, a sketch on an aircraft, a small black notebook with notes and calculations from 1971, a program for “Kinotek” at the London Public Library and Art Museum, an invitation to a joint Murray Favro and Ron Martin exhibit at the McIntosh Gallery, a 1998 receipt for a delivery from the London Regional Art Gallery, a page of California Legislature from 1970, a number of pages of professional correspondence, a receipt from Fanshawe College, London, an advertisement and promotional booklet for the 2002 exhibit “Construction Compulsion” at Oakville Galleries, a Royal Canadian Academy of Arts bulletin from 1999, a photograph (possibly of an installation piece), and a number of pages of hand-drawn circuitry diagrams and other notes and sketches.

Grant applications, and other materials

File consists of textual records relating mainly to grant and bursary applications, as well as correspondence. Included is a 1985 letter to Favro from Michael Mundhenk, a 1967 application for a Canada Council Arts Bursary, 2 invitations to "Track Records: Trains and Contemporary Photography" at Oakville Galleries, a note from the 2020 Gallery, an insurance memo from 1998 from AON Reed Stenhouse Inc., 3 pages relating to "Sproing (1965),” a 1991 Grant application, a handwritten note to the Arts Awards Service, a handwritten project cost report, a report noting that a grant allowed Favro to complete specific projects, a typed project cost report from 1991, a request for a third installment to the Arts Awards Service from 1992, and an empty envelope.

Show at 2020 Gallery Plans notebook

File consists of 1 exercise notebook in a duotang folder as well as a card for a 1977 Favro exhibition titled "Airshow" at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery. "67-68 season Show at 2020 Gallery Plans" is written on the front of the exercise book.

The Blacksmith's Jet Engine notebook

File consists of one spiral notebook with "The Blacksmith's Jet Engine" written on the cover. The sketches and notes relate to a variety of Favro's interests, projects, and ideas. Not all of the pages in the notebook are titled, but some examples of titles from the pages include; "Motorcycle - Evolution in Design," "A hypothetical engine," "Optics," "The Blacksmiths Jet Engine," and "Religion - Science - Invention." Engines, waves, turbines, and optical components are among the objects that are sketched throughout the notebook.

Notes on Invention and other topics

File consists of approximately 49 loose pages of notes and writings, which are undated but possibly from the 1970s. The writings cover a range of topics, and are not all titled, but some examples from pages that are titled include "2nd Look at Invention," "Myths, Illusions, and Social Workings," "Lets all get Liberated," "Evolution [machine] Cultural and Biological," "Anthropology," "Exhibition," "Invention," "Invention and art," "Passive Transmitter," "A Science Fiction Outline," "Flying Lessons," "Meeting of Media," "Dynamic View of the Machine," "Perpetual Motion Machine," and "My Work."

Notes on technical projects and other topics

File consists of approximately 72 loose papers, largely undated, with Favro's handwritten notes, writings and sketches. Also included are some photocopies of pages, possibly from a textbook, including a page of definitions, a page from a journal article about frequencies, two pages about the Aeolian Harp, and a page about audio devices. Also included are 4 pages from a 1964 issue of "Science and Mechanics," 3 pages of an article titled "Singing Louver," and a pamphlet of technical data and circuitry information. The writings and sketches cover a range of topics, but broadly relate to technical and mechanical projects, including details about a "teletype" project, an engine project, circuitry diagrams and sketches, thermal electricity, and a passive transmitter.

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