Optic Antics

The Cinema of Ken Jacobs

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Edited by Michele Pierson, David E. James and Paul Arthur

Type

Studies

Subject

Director > Ken Jacobs

Keywords

Ken Jacobs, director, experimental

Publishing date

2011

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 312 pages
7 x 10 inches (17.5 x 25.5 cm)

ISBN

978-0-19-538498-7

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Book Presentation:
• The first work to address the influence and legacy of Ken Jacobs on American cinema
• Features over forty never-before-published photographs that chart the course of Jacobs's filmmaking career

Ken Jacobs has been making cinema for more than fifty years. Along with over thirty film and video works, he has created an array of shadow plays, sound pieces, installations, and magic lantern and film performances that have transformed how we look at and think about moving images. He is part of the permanent collections at MoMA and the Whitney, and his work has been celebrated in Europe and the U.S. While his importance is well-recognized, this is the first volume dedicated entirely to him. It includes essays by prominent film scholars along with photographs and personal pieces from artists and critics, all of which testify to the extraordinary variety and influence of his accomplishments. Anyone interested in cinema or experimental arts will be well-rewarded by a greater acquaintance with the genius, the innovation, and the optical antics of Ken Jacobs.

About the authors:
Edited by Michele Pierson, Lecturer in Film Studies, King's College London, David E. James, Professor of Film, University of Southern California, and Paul Arthur, Professor of English and Film Studies, Montclair State University Michele Pierson is on the faculty of the Film Studies Department at King's College London. She is the author of Special Effects: Still in Search of Wonder. David E. James is on the faculty of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Allegories of Cinema: American Film in the Sixties and The Most Typical Avant-Garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles. Paul Arthur was Professor of English and Film Studies at Montclair State University. He is the author of Line Of Sight: American Avant-Garde Film Since 1965.

Press Reviews:
"Above all else, Optic Antics has the rare distinction - characteristic of Jacob's filmmaking itself - of being at once philosophically intricate and ludicrously fun." - Film Comment

"The contributors to Optic Antics are to be congratulated for chronicling the work of the artist Ken Jacobs and providing insightful interpretations of his extraordinary and multifaceted contributions to the art of the moving image. In his many films, performance works, and digital pieces, Jacobs has made a major contribution to contemporary art, and this book will be a real asset to scholars, artists, and curators." - John G. Hanhardt, Senior Curator, Nam June Paik Media Arts Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum

"Optic Antics gives Jacobs devotees like myself and new audiences alike the chance to understand Ken in full context. Forget essential, Ken Jacobs is seminal cinema." - Andrew Lampert, Artist, Programmer, and Archivist, Anthology Film Archives

See the publisher website: Oxford University Press