Matter, Mercedes, 1913-2001

Biography / Administrative History

R. Buckminster Fuller conceived the World Game as an interactive role-playing experience that would teach participants to organize, revitalize and distribute depleted world resources. Relying on computers to provide raw data, players work non-competitively to allocate the earth?s natural capital worldwide, scoring points through efficient management. If cooperation degenerates into competition, the first step towards war, the game is lost. This archive documents the preparations for and execution of the inaugural World Game at the New York Studio School in 1969, which became a prototypical rehearsal for its 1971 appearance at the University of Southern Illinois. Born in Engelberg, Switzerland, Herbert Matter is best known for his international contributions in photography, photomontage, and graphic design work. Matter was also a filmmaker, exhibition designer, and professor. He came to the United States in 1936 and began work as a freelance photographer for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue magazines and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and created displays for the Swiss and Corning Glass Pavilions for the 1939 World's Fair. He also directed, filmed, and edited Works of Calder in 1950 for the Museum of Modern Art, the first color film to show Alexander Calder's sculptures. While maintaining countless assignments, he introduced the first photography classes offered at Yale University where he taught until 1976. In 1943, Herbert married Mercedes de Cordoba and in 1964 she founded the New York Studio School of Painting and Sculpture (the Studio School). When the 1967 Montreal World?s Fair rejected R. Buckminster Fuller?s proposal to have the World Game played at the fair, Herbert and Mercedes offered to host him at the Studio School and offered the school?s student population for the inaugural World Game. Other related collections at Stanford University researchers should investigate would be the R. Buckminster Fuller papers (M1090) and the Herbert Matter papers (M1446).