Polyphemus
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Personal Info

Gender

Male

Birthday

1933-05-25 (91 years old)

Place of Birth

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Ken Jacobs

Biography:

A pioneer of the American film avant-garde of the 1960s and '70s, Ken Jacobs is a central figure in post-war experimental cinema. From his first films of the late 1950s to his recent experiments with digital video, his investigations and innovations have influenced countless artists.

A New Yorker by birth, Jacobs graduated from City University to find himself in the midst of the downtown art scene of the 1960s, which included artists Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, beat writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac; and the experimental theater troupes of Trisha Brown and Yvonne Rainer. Although Jacobs had studied painting with Hans Hoffman, he quickly gravitated to film, finding kindred spirits in radical filmmakers such as Jonas Mekas and Hollis Frampton. An early friendship with Jack Smith yielded several collaborations, including the seminal underground films Blonde Cobra (which Jonas Mekas dubbed "the masterpiece of Baudelairean cinema") and Little Stabs at Happiness, as well as a Provincetown beach-based live show, The Human Wreckage Review.

Known For

Acting

2022

2016

2013

2012

Emma's Dilemma as Himself

2011

2010

Lavender as Self

2008

2007

2004

Star Spangled to Death as Oscar Friendly / Ringmaster / Janitor

2002

2000

1997

1994

1991

1986

1985

1976

1968

Huge Pupils as Himself

1967

1963

1962

Editing

2021

2010

A Loft as Editor

1964

Window as Editor

Directing

2021

Double Wow as Director
Cartoonish 1-10 as Director
Hoffman Student as Director
Eternal Beach as Director
XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX as Director
Aspiring To Music as Director

2020

Rubble as Director
Rain Clouds as Director
RECIPROCAL as Director
PAINTED POSTER as Director
DR. TOOTHY as Director
Red Green as Director
Ken and Flo as Director
Barber as Director
Facade with Face as Director
Doyer Street as Director
DeKooning Passed as Director
Sleeping American as Director
Roots of Manhattan as Director
Reading Society as Director
Lazy City as Director
Natural Collage as Director
Bison as Director
Friendly Building as Director
Bargains as Director
City Foliage as Director
Chinese New Years as Director
Fire Escape as Director
Broadway Building as Director
Duck as Director
Street Commerce as Director
Resting Merchant as Director
Neon Sign as Director
Flowers and Bike as Director
Street Commerce II as Director
Halley’s Comet as Director
Water Balloon as Director
Spaceworks as Director
Period Piece as Director
Bandit as Director
Garage Wall as Director
Whirlpool as Director
Hubble II as Director
Spiky as Director
Storefront as Director
Clouds and Trees as Director

2016

Reichstag 9/11 as Director
Mosco Street 2 as Director
Hydroelectric Dam as Director
I'm Telling You as Director
Lurking as Director
Molten Landscape as Director

2014

Canopy as Director
The Guests as Director
Wire Fence as Director
Popeye Sees 3-D as Director
Pygmalion Cubed as Director
Celestial Bodies as Director

2012

20 Little Films as Director
Street Vendor as Director

2004

2003

1996

Disorient Express as Director

1995

Looting For Rodney as Director
Make Light On Film as Director

1990

Chronometer as Director

1986

1985

Perfect Film as Director

1977

The Doctor's Dream as Director

1976

Spaghetti Aza as Director

1973

Changing Azazel as Director

1970

1969

Globe as Director

1968

Soft Rain as Director
The Sky Socialist as Director

1967

Airshaft as Director

1964

Window as Director
The Winter Footage as Director
We Stole Away as Director
Winter Sky as Director
1st Window as Director

1963

Blonde Cobra as Director
TV Plug as Director

1962

Baud'larian Capers as Director

1955

Orchard Street as Director

Crew

2013

2004

Star Spangled to Death as Cinematography

1964

Window as Cinematography

Writing

2005

Spiral Nebula as Writer

Production

1964

Window as Producer

Camera

2006

Monks of Cinema as Camera Operator