Inside the Cosmic Mind of Al Jarnow

In the latest issue of Dazed, Jesse Jarnow writes about the artistic legacy of his father, cult animator Al Jarnow. Psychedelic to the hilt, his archive is full of subliminal films that pioneered abstract geometric animation. Here's five of his best:





- Celestial Navigation is set both at Stonehenge and the third floor of Al’s house, conveying the idea that we’re moving through space in unity.
 


- Although he was famous for Sesame Street’s “Yak”, Floor Tiles is a Sesame Street animation that shows Al’s preference for animating objects rather than lips.



- Cubits explores the logic of animation through a series of variations of the animated cube and forcing us to quest logic itself.



- Cosmic Clock is a short film that aims at understanding the world through a future perspective – all in the space of a few seconds.



- As well as Cosmic Clock, Face Film was also made for American science educational television show 3-2-1 Contact in 1980.

If you like these and happen to be in LA or San Francisco this month, you can go and watch some of Al’s films and also hear him talk about them. Here’s the lowdown:

April 24th, 2010
The Cinefamily @ The Silent Movie Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
7:30pm
Q&A with Al Jarnow & Peter Crosman after the screening

April 22nd, 2010
Red Vic Movie House
San Francisco, CA
7 & 9pm
Q&A with Al Jarnow after both screenings

Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow is out now on DVD. Read about Al Jarnow in the May issue of Dazed & Confused, out now.