This retrospective exhibition illustrates the work of the radical architecture collective that began in 1968. Comprised of several young renegade architects, Ant Farm reveals the revolutionary spirit of the times as well as timeless renditions of contemporary art practices. The vision of Ant Farm resonates with a nomadic lifestyle, supported by inflatable structures and radical environments that could make such ideals come to fruition. Collectively, Ant Farm broadened the visual vocabulary of architecture, art, and everyday life in the creation of pseudo realities and new social visions.

Ant Farm, founded in San Francisco by Chip Lord and Doug Michels as an alternative architecture, graphic arts, and environmental design practice, expanded to include Curtis Schreier and, at times, Douglas Hurr and Hudson Marquez. Ant Farm was an innovative countercultural collective working in media and spectacle from the late 1960s through the 1970s. Their media events, site structures, performances and videotapes merge an irreverent pop humor with cultural and political critique. Ant Farm disbanded in 1978 when a fire destroyed their studio at Pier 40 in San Francisco.

Ant Farm 1968-1978 is organized by the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and is cosponsored by the College of Environmental Design and Department of Architecture.

The catalog for Ant Farm 1968-1978 is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

The catalog and exhibition have also been made possible by The Judith Rothschild Foundation, in recognition of Doug Michels; the National Endowment for the Arts; Rena Bransten; Marilyn Oshman; the Consortium for the Arts at UC Berkeley; the Windfall Foundation; and Joan Roebuck. Special thanks to Robert and Caroline Michels.