Date: Ongoing every day from March 27, 2013 through June 16, 2013. 11:00 AM.
Location: Cantor Arts Center, just off Palm Drive, at Museum Way and Lomita Drive
In 1986 Cray Research, Inc. invited American master photographer Lee Friedlander (b. 1934) to create a photo-illustrated book commemorating the company’s 15th anniversary. Friedlander took these photographs at Cray Research, Inc., Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, birthplace of the Cray-1 supercomputer—then the fastest computer in the world. This extraordinary set of 79 vintage photographs is one of the most recent partial and promised gifts to the Cantor Arts Center, made by Michael J. Levinthal, BS ’76, MS ’77, MBA ’81. This commission built on past projects in which Friedlander photographed people working on factory assembly lines and in data-entry centers. Each of our newly acquired photographs of a Cray technician is both intimate and detached, taken at close proximity while the worker labored at a complex manual task. The series also features images of the town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where the company was located, and its surrounding landscape. Many of the workers who built these machines were women whom Seymour Cray, Cray Research’s founder, selected for their talents as crafters. The result was a landmark visual record documenting the assembly of this awe-inspiring supercomputer and the people who made it. These photos formed part of a commemorative book given to all Cray employees. This exhibition involves collaboration with various members of the Stanford community. A video made by recent Stanford alumni about the legacy of Cray will be on view in the gallery.
Location: Cantor Arts Center, just off Palm Drive, at Museum Way and Lomita Drive
In 1986 Cray Research, Inc. invited American master photographer Lee Friedlander (b. 1934) to create a photo-illustrated book commemorating the company’s 15th anniversary. Friedlander took these photographs at Cray Research, Inc., Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, birthplace of the Cray-1 supercomputer—then the fastest computer in the world. This extraordinary set of 79 vintage photographs is one of the most recent partial and promised gifts to the Cantor Arts Center, made by Michael J. Levinthal, BS ’76, MS ’77, MBA ’81. This commission built on past projects in which Friedlander photographed people working on factory assembly lines and in data-entry centers. Each of our newly acquired photographs of a Cray technician is both intimate and detached, taken at close proximity while the worker labored at a complex manual task. The series also features images of the town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where the company was located, and its surrounding landscape. Many of the workers who built these machines were women whom Seymour Cray, Cray Research’s founder, selected for their talents as crafters. The result was a landmark visual record documenting the assembly of this awe-inspiring supercomputer and the people who made it. These photos formed part of a commemorative book given to all Cray employees. This exhibition involves collaboration with various members of the Stanford community. A video made by recent Stanford alumni about the legacy of Cray will be on view in the gallery.