Jonas Mekas : the camera was always running / edited by Inesa Brašiške, Lukas Brasiskis, and Kelly Taxter ; with essays by Ed Halter, Melissa Ragona, Kelly Taxter, and Andrew V. Uroskie.
Published in conjunction with the exhibition at the National Museum of Art, Vilnius, Lithuania November 19, 2021-February 20, 2022 and Jewish Museum, New York, February 18-June 5, 2022. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Forewords: The Mekas Paradox / Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas ; Mekas uptown and downtown / Claudia Gould -- Introduction: Jonas Mekas expanded / Inesa Brašiške, Lukas Brasiskis, and Kelly Taxter -- Ephemera, 1940s -- The camera was always running: exile and the artist Jonas Mekas / Kelly Taxter -- Films: Guns of the trees, 1961 ; Film magazine of the arts, 1963 ; Award presentation to Andy Warhol, 1964 ; The brig, 1964 -- Ephemera, 1950s and 1960s -- Jonas Mekas, the living theatre, and the place of performance in the emergence of a New American Cinema / Andrew V. Uroskie -- Films: Walden (Diaries, notes, and sketches), 1969 ; Reminiscences of a journey to Lithuania, 1972 -- Ephemera, 1960s -- Jonas Mekas, life itself / Ed Halter -- Films: Lost, lost, lost, 1976 ; Notes for Jerome, 1978 ; Self portrait, 1980 ; Scenes from the life of Andy Warhol, 1990 -- Ephemera, late 1960s -- Sonic Mekas / Melissa Ragona -- Films: Zefiro torna or Scenes from the life of George Maciunas, 1992 ; This side of paradise, 1999 ; As I was moving ahead occasionally I saw brief glimpses of beauty, 2000 -- Ephemera, 1970s-1980 -- Films: My 9/11 footage, 2001 ; A letter from Greenpoint, 2004 ; 365 day project, 2007 ; Requiem, 2019 -- Timeline.
Summary:
Between 1950 and his death, the artist and impresario Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) made more than one hundred radically innovative, often diaristic films and video works. He also founded film festivals, cooperatives, archives, and magazines and wrote film criticism and poetry. Jonas Mekas: The Camera Was Always Running is the first major publication in English on this pivotal member of the New York avant-garde scene, presenting an extensively illustrated, in-depth exploration of his radical art and restless life. Born in rural Lithuania, Mekas made his way to New York, where he became a central figure in the overlapping realms of experimental theater, music, poetry, performance, and film. This book brings his work alive on the page with sequences of stills from film and video, photographic series and installations, and archival documents. Leading scholars examine his work and influence, and a timeline expands our understanding of his life.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.