Paper Airplanes and Other Mysterious Objects

Fascinating New Anthologies that Document the Life’s Work of One of NYC’s Most Compelling Collectors

The soil that sprouted the seeds of the Beat-generation and avant-garde art was the playground for a vast number of experimental and underground artists – where else but New York City could the idiosyncratic daily activities of Harry Smith find fuel for his fervour? A polymath whose work spanned experimental film-making, anthropology, musicology and painting, this little known figure was also an avid collector of unusual mundane objects. Featured now for the first time in two extensive photographic anthologies compiled and edited by John Klacsmann and Andrew Lampert of Anthology Film Archives, the public now have the opportunity to gaze into the curious life that this extraordinary artist left behind.

The two anthologies presented here, published by J&L Books, Paper Airplaines and String Figures, document Harry Smith’s obsessive collecting habits with sharp, detailed photographs by Jason Fulford, who has made sure that each object is given its own page, its own space and dignity. Volume 1 charts Smith’s collection of paper airplanes, all 250 of them. “The basic story is that he collected planes off the streets of New York City for well over 20 years, if not longer,” said Andrew. “To our knowledge, Smith never spoke about the planes in interviews or in his writings.” Differing in shape, size, paper, and style, these curious artifacts are also marked with numbers that show evidence of an obsession.

We have long wanted to create publications that would give the public greater insight into Smith’s decidedly distinct activities. The paper airplanes and string figures stand out as remarkable undertakings, and the resulting objects are so strange and beautiful that hopefully people who don’t already know about Smith will discover him by picking up one of these books.

More eccentric and ever more intricate are the contents of Volume 2, String Figures, documenting Smith’s adventures in creating complex shapes using only string. With mathematical precision, geometric and obscure patterns are achieved that bring about the illusion of three-dimensionality, enhanced by stunning photographs set against a black background. This aesthetic brings the strings to life, allowing an insight into Smith’s mysterious process.

We spoke to the editors of these two marvellous anthologies to find out more:

The Plus: Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and John?
Andrew Lampert: We both work at Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan’s East Village. John is the Archivist, and I’m Curator of Collections. Founded in 1970 by critic and filmmaker Jonas Mekas, Anthology presents over 900 public programs per year in our two theaters. Our collection of unique and original artist and experimental film and videos contains well over 25,000 items, and our research library is the largest in existence on the subject of independent cinema. Outside of Anthology, John runs the ZAP Cassettes label and makes films. I make films, videos and performances as well. It goes without saying that we are both major admirers of Harry Smith and his eccentric, almost unfathomable life’s work.

 TP: Paper Airplanes is a very mysterious collection. How much do you know about it?
AL: The introduction to our book outlines the alleged details (hard to call them facts) related to Smith’s incredible paper airplane collection. The extant collection documented in our book contains 251 examples, but apocryphal anecdotes suggest that there most certainly could have been more. Doing research and talking to Smith’s friends while editing this book it became apparent that no one entirely understands why he was so intrigued by these planes. We feel that he collected them as he did so many other types of objects because he felt that they were both cultural by-products and at the same time records of cultural transformation. The paper airplane book is the companion volume to another volume that is being simultaneously released, String Figures: The Collections of Harry Smith Catalogue Raisonné, Volume II. This book documents Smith’s lifelong study of string figures, another fairly esoteric subject to which he was completely devoted. While he is most famous for being a record collector who used his albums to compile the landmark Anthology of American Folk Music, Smith was also an inveterate collector of so many different types of things, including Ukrainian Easter Eggs, Seminole Patchwork textiles, and beggar signs.

TP: What’s your favourite paper airplane in the book?
AL: I have a deep fondness for the “Spruce Goose” plane (PA230). It is charming and sort of sad. But that said, I really like all the planes that look like they’ve been run over by cars are trampled on by the unsuspecting, uncaring public.

John Klacsmann: My favorite is PA226 – it’s made from the ripped cover of an early 1980s Manhattan telephone book. Telephone books are not things we think of or really have around anymore, but they used to be ubiquitous. There is something both iconic and nostalgic about the NYC telephone book with “Manhattan” printed boldly in Helvetica on its cover.

TP: Where are the 251 paper airplanes now?
AL: After being returned to Anthology from the Folklife Center at the Smithsonian the paper airplanes were kept with Smith’s films, audio recordings and other peculiar collections. In 2013 Anthology gave the planes to the Getty Research Institute where they now reside along with other items, objects, and papers related to Smith. Anthology and the Getty hold the two largest collections of Harry Smith materials. If there are more planes out there in the world we were not able to find them. Legend suggests that he gave many more to the Smithsonian, but they don’t have a record of them.

 TP: How was the editing process?
AL: Fun, but also vexing. We were doing both books at the same time, so it became very dizzying at certain points. For instance, in the span of one week we ended up speaking with some of the foremost experts on paper airplanes as well as the leader of the O.T.O., a religious organization that is often associated with Aleister Crowley. There is so much about these planes that can never really be entirely understood, but digging and doing the necessary research was always enlightening and just a bit bizarre. In addition to the research, it took quite a bit of effort to compile the index in the back of the book documenting when and where each plane was found by Smith. He often annotated this information on the actual planes, so it took careful transcribing, cross-referencing, and verification to build the comprehensive chronological index and mapping of his collecting activities.

TP: Do you collect something?
AL: Sadly, yes. I have a LOT of books and music in various formats. I manage to acquire more all the time without even really trying. Unlike Smith I’m not particularly obsessive or systematic. My collecting is habitual, but thankfully it is not comprehensive. If you are interested in the world around you then more likely than not you are a collector.

JK: I used to collect PEZ dispensers. It got to the point where I stopped buying them because people routinely gave them knowing of my collection. Some still trickle in from time to time but now I mainly collect books and underground comics.