Jonas Mekas A Dance With Fred Astaire on Tosh Talks

Tosh Berman of "Tosh Talks" chats about the wonderful book by Jonas Mekas "A Dance With Fred Astaire" published by Anthology Editions. In great detail, Mekas talks about working with Yoko Ono/John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Jack Smith and other greats in the independent underground film world.

"A Dance with Fred Astaire" by Jonas Mekas (Anthology Editions)

ISBN: 978-1-94460-09-7 Anthology Editions LLC

Once in a while, a presence comes upon the landscape and shows an incredible amount of character and interest.   Jonas Mekas is clearly in that bracket of a human being.  Filmmaker, head honcho of the Film Anthology in New York City, as well as the Filmmaker's co-op, and writer.  There are many great writers who write about film, but Mekas is the best, because he clearly shows his love for the medium, and by his writing, he expresses that enjoyment of seeing the projected light on a screen.   There have been a few great books by Mekas on film and his life, but "A Dance With Fred Astaire" may be my favorite of his books.  

For one, it's a perfect entrance way to his world for someone who is not familiar with New York / European / World filmmakers, because if nothing else (besides his talent as a filmmaker/writer) Mekas connects to his world like no other individual.  He knows or knew everyone from Andy Warhol to Fritz Lang to Jacqueline Kennedy.   He is the other side of the coin of Warhol, in that in his own fashion he also attracted talent by just standing there.  Of course, that is not true.  He was the publisher and editor/writer for the greatest film publication ever, "Film Culture."  And his weekly column for the Village Voice was the most passionate and smart writing on artist's films and their world.  Like Warhol and his Factory, artists were drawn to Mekas, either by his passion or personality, but it was truly a wonderful culture that produced many flowers that bloomed into films, art, writing and so forth.  

There are so many amazing chance meetings that are listed in "A Dance With Fred Astaire."  For one, Fred Astaire himself who was invited by Yoko Ono to participate in her film by dancing in it, with Mekas following his steps best as possible.  So yeah as a reader, you are trying to put all of this in one's head:  Yoko, Jonas, and yeah, of course, Fred Astaire, with John Lennon.  Or the time he visited Jacqueline Kennedy and she casually told Mekas that Kennedy received an 8mm camera which he kept in his coat pocket the last few years of his life.   She went to the closet, found John's coat, got the camera out and showed it to Mekas.  At the time there is still film inside the camera.  One wonders what is on that film???   And where is that film and camera now?   There is also the incredible connection between Tony Conrad, Henry Flynt, and the UNABOMBER!   

"A Dance with Fred Astaire" is full of illustrations and the book is beautifully designed by Nicholas Law with art direction by Bryan Cipolla.  Creative Director is Johan Kugelberg, who has done numerous great books on cult faves.  Remarkable. 

"Scrapbook of the Sixties: Writings 1954 - 2010" by Jonas Mekas (Spector Books)

Spector Books ISBN: 9783959050333

"Scrapbook of the Sixties:  Writings 1954-2010" by Jonas Mekas (Spector Books)

The world is great when it is represented by Jonas Mekas.  For those who don't know or not in the know, Mekas is a filmmaker, film-supporter, film distributor, art lover, and the light of the Film Anthology in New York City.  On top of that, he was hired by Jackie Kennedy to tutor her two children in film aesthetics.   Mekas is also a great writer in defense of the art film, than say the narrative Hollywood film.  His writing throughout the years on filmmakers like Breakage, Anger, Conner, and of course Andy Warhol is priceless.   The beauty of reading "Scrapbook of the Sixties" is one gets a snapshot of that era, and all the issues that came up in the arts - especially the arts that were produced in lower Manhattan.

The odd thing, not everything in this book took place in the 60s.  Some of the pieces were written in the 90s, 00's as well as the 70s.  Yet, the root of the aesthetic does go back to the late 50s and of course, throughout the 1960s.  Here you get John & Yoko, Peter Kubelka, Warhol, Stan Brakage  - but it also goes beyond the cinematic arts - there are also various insights into the world of theater - specifically The Living Theater.  Reading Mekas, he now reminds me of Boris Vian's various reviews and commentary on Jazz.  Both artists share a total passion for an art form and a social movement.    

I also have to say, that this book is a delight to hold.  It's beautifully designed with wonderful paper.  The texture is incredible.  So are the words and their thoughts.

- Tosh Berman

"Empire" by Andy Warhol and John Palmer. Photographed by Jonas Mekas. 1964. 16mm black & white, silent

Just had an extraordinary screening experience of seeing Andy Warhol and John Palmer’s “Empire.” The film is 8 hours and five minutes, and I saw 3 hours of it.  I was there from the beginning when it's daylight and slowly turns into nighttime.  “Empire” works on different levels, and is probably is one of the most complex films I have ever seen. On one level, it deals with the Empire State Building, which is the subject of the camera just being focused on the top of the iconic building.  The grainy and textural aspect of the film adds a definite layer of beauty to its subject matter.   When it becomes night, and all of sudden the building's lighting goes on, you can hear the audience swoon.  There is nothing for a long time, and then… something happens.  After awhile, I can’t tell if the camera is moving or it is just my eyes adjusting to the lights - or maybe just starring at one object for such a long time.   I started to see a face - something of a mid-evil armory mask.  Illusion for sure, but one has plenty of time for inventorying their brain while watching this film.  Which comes to the other layer, which is time.

Time going by, or time passing.  It became obvious to me after watching it for an hour that the building is not really the topic, but more how one spends time viewing something.  Especially when you’re in a theater watching this film.   One can say it’s non-narrative, but that is not correct.  If you’re in the beginning of the film, you gradually see the building emerging from the whiteness of the screen.   As it emerges you then see the skyline of New York, but not fully.  Almost ghost like, till it gets darker, and then one can only see the building - and once in a while you see a light here and there from other structures, but they’re way in the background.   So the narrative is basically watching this building for a period of time, and therefore it tells a story.  The fact that day turns to night is narrative enough.   And then when it gets dark, the lights go on the building.  So things are happening, and there are things we don’t know about.  For instance what are the people in the building doing while Empire is being filmed?  I thought about that as I watched the film, and I also started to daydream about my life - thinking of past pleasures.

“Empire” becomes an entrance way to one’s imagination and thinking.   Jonas Mekas did the filming.  He captured such beautiful images as the day is turned into night.  Also the relationship between audience and film is an interesting one as well.  When I went in, I turned off my phone, not only because you should in a theater, but I also wanted to destroy my version of time.  I didn’t wish to be aware of my time, but just focus on the time being expressed in the film.   After awhile I totally got lost - and I wasn’t sure if one hour passed or even six hours.  There had the feeling of comfort watching a film knowing how it will end - and therefore you are just there for the journey itself.