Tens of millions of people have seen these short films, but very, very few know the name of their maker. Still, via wee-hours reruns and nostalgia-based YouTube forwards, filmmaker Al Jarnow has touched uncounted lives, shifting our perceptions of the world and movement without us ever knowing. Beginning with his work for a certain public television show featuring a big yellow bird, Al Jarnow boiled reality's minutia down for easy consumption between cookie-eating monsters and counting vampires. Coupling time-lapse, stop motion, and cel animation with simple, everyday objects, Jarnow deconstructed the world for an entire generation. Delving into New York's avant-garde film scene alongside Harry Smith, Jonas Mekas and Stan Brakhage, Jarnow created a body of awe-inspiring films that remain in the collections of MOMA and Pompideau Center.
Celestial Navigations marks The Numero Group's maiden foray into the world of cinema. The 45 films collected have been transferred and color corrected from the original 16mm prints, along with fully remastered sound. There's a 30-minute documentary on Jarnow's creative process, as well as film playlists designed for both children and adults alike. Deluxe package includes a 60-page book loaded to the gills with essays, ephemera, storyboards, photos, and a complete film index, all housed in the iconic Numero slipcase. DVD is region-free.
Track List
- The Owl & The Pussycat
- Scratching & Painting On Film
- Yak
- Tondo
- Four Quadrant Exercise
- Rotating Cubic Grid
- Autosong
- Digging To China
- Map Projections
- Perspectives
- Shorelines
- Facial Recognition
- Cubits
- Cosmic Clock
- Cosmic Letter
- Cube
- Jesse: The First Year
- Skeletons
- Architecture
- Bench, River, And Train
- Pegboard
- Plans & Elevations
- Incidence Of The Northern Moon
- Orange
- Real Cats Drink Milk
- Earth Works
- Moving Day
- Celestial Navigation
- Shell Life
- Dinosaur Matrix
- Rocks
- Academy Leader Variation
- Computer Test
- Number Rap #17
- Ocean
- Litter Rap
- Ake & Ch
- Letters O, P, And R
- Paper Origami
- Floor Tiles