Ken Jacobs
Encyclopedia
Ken Jacobs is an American experimental filmmaker. He is the director of Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son
(1969, USA), which was admitted to the National Film Registry
in 2007, and Star Spangled to Death (2004, USA), a nearly seven hour film consisting largely of found footage
.
He coined the term paracinema
in the early 1970s, referring to cinema experiences provided by means outside of standard cinema technology. He was an influential teacher of Art Spiegelman
of Maus
fame, former painting student of Hans Hoffman, and in 1969 with Larry Gottheim started the Cinema department at Harpur College at Binghamton University
providing arts education and tools of critical thinking to students until his retirement in 2003 as a Distinguished Professor of Cinema. He resides in New York City
.
Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son
"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19621.-Lyrics:Modern versions of the rhyme include:...
(1969, USA), which was admitted to the National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
in 2007, and Star Spangled to Death (2004, USA), a nearly seven hour film consisting largely of found footage
Found footage
Found footage is a filmmaking term which describes a method of compiling films partly or entirely of footage which has not been created by the filmmaker, and changing its meaning by placing it in a new context. It should not be mistaken for documentary or compilation films. It is also not to be...
.
He coined the term paracinema
Paracinema
Paracinema is an academic term to refer to a wide variety of film genres out of the mainstream, bearing the same relationship to 'legitimate' film as paraliterature like comic books and pulp fiction bears to literature. The term was coined by Jeffrey Sconce, an American media scholar, and...
in the early 1970s, referring to cinema experiences provided by means outside of standard cinema technology. He was an influential teacher of Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
of Maus
Maus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
fame, former painting student of Hans Hoffman, and in 1969 with Larry Gottheim started the Cinema department at Harpur College at Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
providing arts education and tools of critical thinking to students until his retirement in 2003 as a Distinguished Professor of Cinema. He resides in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
As Director
- The Alps and the Jews (1957)
- Little Stabs at Happiness (1960)
- The Death of P'town (1963)
- Blonde Cobra (1963)
- Window (1964)
- Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son (1969)
- Keaton's Cops (1991)
- Opening the Nineteenth Century: 1896 (1991)
- The Georgetown Loop (1996)
- Disorient Express (1996)
- Circling Zero: We See Absence (2002)
- Star Spangled to Death (2004)
- Razzle Dazzle (The Lost World) (2007)
- Capitalism: Child Labor (2007)
- Nymph (2007)
- Gift of Fire: Nineteen (Obscure) Frames that Changed the World (2008)
- The Scenic Route (2008)
- The Discovery (film) (2008) for the music album please see "The Discovery"
- Seeking the Monkey King (2011)