Douglas Donald Michels known as Doug Michels (June 29, 1943 - June 12, 2003) was an American architect, artist, and designer. He was a co-founder of the

Ant Farm A formicarium (: formicaria or formicariums) or ant farm is a vivarium which is designed primarily for the study of ant colonies and how ants behave and for the enjoyment of ants as pets. Those who study ant behavior are known as myrmecologists ...

collective.

Early life

Born in Seattle, Washington, Michels studied at

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

in Washington, D.C., and at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in England before graduating with a degree in architecture from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1967. Michels also studied architecture at Harvard.

Career

Ant Farm

Michels met

Chip Lord Chip Lord is an American media artist and Professor Emeritus, UC Santa Cruz and residing in San Francisco. He is best known for his work with the alternative architecture and media collective known as Ant Farm, which he co-founded with Doug Miche ...

in 1968, when Michels gave a guest lecture at

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

, where Lord was attending school. The two met again in August 1968 at an architecture workshop directed by

Lawrence Halprin Lawrence Halprin (July 1, 1916 – October 25, 2009) was an American landscape architect, designer, and teacher. Beginning his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, in 1949, Halprin often collaborated with a local circle of modernist ...

in San Francisco. Michels and Lord founded ''Ant Farm'' at this workshop.Mellencamp, Patricia. "Ant Farm Redux: Pyrotechnics and Emergence."

Journal of Film and Video The ''Journal of Film and Video'' is the official academic journal of the University Film and Video Association. It features articles on film and video production, history, theory, criticism, and aesthetics. The journal is published by the Univers ...

57.1/2 (2005): 40-56. The group's initial goal was to reform education, but with little funding, Michels and Lord relocated to Houston, Texas, where they took posts as visiting professors at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

.The group first began putting on performances there, including their "inflatables." Eventually, Lord and Michels were joined by Hudson Marquez and Curtis Schreier. The group was a self-described "art agency that promotes ideas that have no commercial potential, but which we think are important vehicles of cultural introspection." In addition to their architecture works, the collective was well known for counter-cultural performances and media events, such as ''

Media Burn Ant Farm was an avant-garde architecture, graphic arts, and environmental design practice, founded in San Francisco in 1968 by Chip Lord and Doug Michels (1943-2003). Ant Farm's work often made use of popular icons in the United States, as a st ...

''. Ant Farm's installation, ''

Cadillac Ranch ''Cadillac Ranch'' is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, US. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm (group), Ant Farm. The installation consist ...

'', remains an iconic sculpture in American popular culture. In 1972, Michels and Lord collaborated with Houston architect Richard Jost on the ''House Of The Century'', a futuristic concept of a home. Ant Farm disbanded in 1978 when a fire destroyed their San Francisco studio.

Post-Ant Farm

In 1979, Michels presented ''the Teleport media room'' in Houston, an artwork created with Jost and Alex Morphett, which consisted of futuristic communications devices, foreshadowing many telecom innovations. Michels proposed and designed the unbuilt statue The Spirit of Houston. Michels worked extensively on plans for ''Bluestar'', a space station to be co-occupied by

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

s and

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s. Michels operated an art and design studio in Washington, D.C from 1986 to 1999.

Death

Michels died while climbing to a whale observation point in Eden Bay, Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michels, Doug 1943 births 2003 deaths American video artists