Ken Jacobs

Bio Filmography

Ken Jacobs was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. He has received numerous awards, including the Maya Deren Award, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts. In 1969, with the help of Larry Gottheim and Gottheim’s students (one of whom was J. Hoberman, current senior film critic for the Village Voice), Jacobs began the Cinema Department at SUNY Binghamton and taught there until 2002. His films, videos and performances have received international venues such as the Berlin Film Festival, the London Film Festival, the Hong Kong Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the American Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. He was a featured filmmaker at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2004.

1. FILMS
ORCHARD STREET (1955) 16mm, color, silent, 12’;
THE WHIRLED [also known as Four Shorts with Jack Smith: Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice (1956); LITTLE COBRA DANCE (1956); TV PLUG (1963); THE DEATH OF P’TOWN (1961)] (1956–63, compiled under this title in the early 1990’s with additional intertitles) 16mm*, color & b/w, sound, 19’;
STAR SPANGLED TO DEATH (1956–60 on 16mm, 2001–4 on digital video) 16mm transferred to digital video, color & b/w, sound, 440’; LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS (1958–60) 16mm*, color, sound, 18’; BLONDE COBRA (1959–63) uses original footage shot by Bob Fleischner, 16mm*, color & b/w, sound (includes live radio), 33’;
ARTIE AND MARTY ROSENBLATT’S BABY PICTURES (1963) existing home-movie titled and placed into distribution by Jacobs without intervention, 8mm, b/w, sound on tape, 4’;
BAUD’LARIAN CAPERS (A Musical With Nazis And Jews) (1963) 16mm, color & b/w, sound, 25’;
WINDOW (1964) 8mm transferred to 16mm, 16–18fps, color, silent, 12’;
THE WINTER FOOTAGE (1964) 8mm transferred to 16mm, color, silent, 50’;
WE STOLE AWAY (1964) 8mm, color, silent, 64’;
WINTER SKY (1964) 8mm transferred to 16mm, color, silent, c.14’;
THE SKY SOCIALIST (1964-8) 8mm transferred to 16mm*, color, sound & silent, 140’;
LISA AND JOEY IN CONNECTICUT, JANUARY’65: “YOU’VE COME BACK!” “YOU’RE STILL HERE!” (1965) 8mm transferred to 16mm, color, silent, 18’;
Naomi Is A Dream Of Loveliness (1965) 16mm, color, silent, 3’;
AIRSHAFT (1967) 16mm, 16–18fps, color, silent, 4’;
SOFT RAIN (1968) 16mm, 16–18fps, color, silent, 12’;
NISSAN ARIANA WINDOW (1968) 16mm, 16–18fps, color, silent, 15’;
TOM, TOM, THE PIPER’S SON (1969, revised 1971) 16mm*, 16–18fps, color & b/w, silent, 115’;
GLOBE [previously called Adjacent Perspectives and Excerpt From The Russian Revolution] (1969) 16mm, color, sound, Pulfrich 3D, 22’;
BINGHAMTON, MY INDIA (1969–70) 16mm, color, silent, 25’;
CHANGING AZAZEL (1973) 16mm, b/w, silent, 4’;
URBAN PEASANTS (1975) 16mm*, requires changes in projection speed from 24fps to 16-18fps, color & b/w, sound & silent, 51’;
JERRY TAKES A BACK SEAT, THEN PASSES OUT OF THE PICTURE (1975) 8mm transferred to 16mm, color, silent, 15’;
SPAGHETTI AZA (1976) 16mm, color, silent, 1’;
THE DOCTOR’S DREAM (1978) 16mm*, b/w, sound, 23’;
PERFECT FILM (1985) 16mm*, b/w, sound, 22’;
THE ALPS AND THE JEWS [incomplete] (1986–present) 16mm*, color, sound, c.90’;
OPENING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: 1896 (1990) 16mm*, color & b/w, sound, Pulfrich 3D, 11’;
Keaton’s Cops (1991) 16mm, b/w, silent, 23’;
Looting For Rodney (1994–5) 16mm, color, silent, Pulfrich 3D, 11’;
MAKE LIGHT ON FILM (1995) 16mm*, color, sound on tape, Pulfrich 3D, 15’;
THE GEORGETOWN LOOP (1996) 16mm double projection reduced to single screen 16mm/35mm*, b/w, silent, 11’;
DISORIENT EXPRESS (1996) 16mm double projection reduced to single screen 16mm/35mm*, b/w, silent, 30’.

II. DIGITAL VIDEOS
FLO ROUNDS A CORNER (1999) digital video, color, silent, 6’;
NEW YORK STREET TROLLEYS 1900 (1999) digital video, b/w, sound, 11’;
A TOM TOM CHASER (2002) digital video, b/w, silent, 11’;
CIRCLING ZERO: PART ONE, WE SEE ABSENCE (2002) digital video, color, sound, 114’;
KEEPING AN EYE ON STAN (2003) digital video, color, sound, 117’;
CELESTIAL SUBWAY LINES/SALVAGING NOISE (2004) digital video, color, sound by John Zorn with Ikue Mori, 108’;
MOUNTAINEER SPINNING (2004) digital video, color, sound by Rick Reed, 26’;
KRYPTON IS DOOMED (2005) digital video, color, sound, 34’;
INSISTENT CLAMOR (2005) digital video, color, sound, 22’;
LEEDS BRIDGE 1888 (2005) digital video, b/w, silent, 6’;
SPIRAL NEBULA (2005) digital video, color, sound by Rick Reed, 46’;
INCENDIARY CINEMA (2005) digital video transferred to 35mm, b/w, sound, 1’;
LET THERE BE WHISTLEBLOWERS (2005) digital video, color & b/w, sound by Steve Reich, 18’;
ONTIC ANTICS STARRING LAUREL AND HARDY; BYE, MOLLY (2005) digital video, color & b/w, sound, PULFRICH 3D (last 15 minutes only), 86’;
NEW YORK GHETTO FISHMARKET 1903 (2006) digital video, b/w, sound by Catherine Jauniaux and Tom Cora, 132’;
PUSHCARTS OF ETERNITY STREET (2006) digital video, b/w, silent, 11’;
TWO WRENCHING DEPARTURES (2006) digital video, b/w, sound, 90’;
CAPITALISM: CHILD LABOR (2006) digital video, color, sound by Rick Reed, 14’;
CAPITALISM: SLAVERY (2006) digital video, color, silent, 3’;
THE SURGING SEA OF HUMANITY (2006) digital video, color, silent, 11’;
RAZZLE DAZZLE: THE LOST WORLD (2006–7) digital video, color, sound, 92’;
WE ARE CHARMING (2007) digital video, color, silent, 1’;
HANKY PANKY JANUARY 1902 (2007) digital video, color, silent, 1’;
Nymph (2007) digital video, color, silent, 2’;
GIFT OF FIRE: NINETEEN (Obscure) Frames That CHANGED THE WORLD (2007) digital video, color, sound, anaglyph 3D, 38’;
HIS FAVORITE WIFE IMPROVED (or The Virtue Of Bad Reception) (2008) digital video, color & b/w, sound, 2’;
RETURN TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME (2008) digital video, color & b/w, sound by Malcolm Goldstein, 92’;
THE SCENIC ROUTE (2008) digital video, color & b/w, sound, 25’;
THE GUESTS (2008) digital video, b/w, sound, freeview 3D, 89’;
ALONE AT LAST (2008) digital video, b/w, silent, 2’;
THE DISCOVERY (2008) digital video, b/w, silent, 5’;
LOVE STORY (2008) digital video, color, silent, 3’;
Anaglyph Tom (Tom With Puffy Cheeks) (2008) digital video, color, sound, anaglyph 3D, 118’;
HOT DOGS AT THE MET (2008) digital video, color, sound, 10’;
WHAT HAPPENED ON 23RD STREET IN 1901 (2009) digital video, b/w, silent, 14’;
“SLOW IS BEAUTY” – RODIN (2009) digital video, color, sound, anaglyph 3D, 51’;
JONAS MEKAS IN KODACHROME DAYS (2009) digital video, color, silent, 3’;
BOB FLEISCHNER DYING (2009) digital video, color, silent, 3’;
THE DAY WAS A SCORCHER (2009) digital video, color, silent, 8’;
EXCERPT FROM THE SKY SOCIALIST STRATIFIED (2009) digital video, color, silent, 18’;
BROOK (2009) digital video, color, silent, 2’;
BRAIN OPERATIONS (2009) digital video, b/w, silent, 22’;
RON GONZALEZ, SCULPTOR (2009) digital video, color, sound, 20’;
WALKWAY (2009) digital video, color, silent, 8’;
GRAVITY IS TOPS (2009) digital video, color, sound, 11’;
BERKELEY TO SAN FRANCISCO (2009) digital video, color, sound, freeview 3D, 24’;
DR. TOOTHY’S NEW ENTRANCEWAY (2010) digital video, color, sound, freeview 3D, 10’;
TOOTHY TWO (2010) digital video, color, sound, freeview 3D, 8’;
FAIR AND WHITE, PARTS I, II, III AND EXTRA (2010) digital video, color, sound, freeview 3D, 120’;
TRAIN ARRIVE AT A STATION (57TH STREET) (2010), digital video, color, sound, freeview 3D, 26’;
PIECE FOR REMOTE (2010), digital video, color, sound, freeview 3D, 19 1/2’;but longer in performance.
RELEASE OF ENERGIES (2010), digital video, 3D with no special viewing or projection techniques, work-in-progress

III.APPARTITION THEATER OF NEW YORK AND OTHER FILM PERFORMANCES (EXCLUDING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND NERVOUS MAGIC LANTERN)
THE BIG BLACKOUT OF’65: CHAPTER ONE “THIRTIES MAN” (1965) 2D shadow play performance.
THE BIG BLACKOUT OF’65: CHAPTER TWO “NAOMI IS A DREAM OF LOVELINESS” (1966) 2D shadow play performance.
THE BIG BLACKOUT OF’65: CHAPTER THREE “SLIDE OF THE CITY” (1967) 2D shadow play performance.
THE BIG BLACKOUT OF’65: CHAPTER FOUR “EVOKING THE MYSTERY” (1968) site specific performance.
RESTFUL MOMENTS (1970) 2D and 3D shadow play performance.
BAGEL IN THE SNOW (1971) 2D and 3D shadow play performance.
EAST OF CHINATOWN (1972) 3D shadow play performance.
TENDING THE DREAM MACHINE: AN EIGHT HOUR SHIFT WITH KEN JACOBS (1973) film projection event.
A MAN’S HOME IS HIS CASTLE FILMS: THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (1974) film projection performance.
“SLOW IS BEAUTY” – RODIN (1974) 2D and 3D shadow play performance.
NEW YORK CITY AND ITS RADIO WAVES (1974) 2D and 3D shadow play performance.
THE BOXER REBELLION (1974) 3D slide/shadow play performance.
FLOP: 4TH OF JULY, 1976 (1976) film screening/performance.
AIR OF INCONSEQUENCE (1977) 3D shadow play performance.
KEN JACOBS AT THE CONSOLE PERFORMING STICK TO YOUR CARPENTRY AND YOU WON’T GET NAILED (1979) film performance.
ART–SPOOKS VAUDEVILLE ONE NIGHT STAND (1980) 3D shadow play performance.
AUDIO-VISUAL VAUDEVILLE (also known as Audio-Optical Vaudeville) (1982) 2D and 3D shadow play performance.
SPITTING IMAGE (1984) 3D slide performance.