Larry Jordan
Fantastic landscapes of the mind is what makes the unique work of San Francisco
animator Larry Jordan so compelling. With a taste for nostalgic romanticism
for intricate turn-of-the-century illustrations, Jordan creates a magical
universe of work using old steel engravings and collectable memorabilia.
His 50-year pursuit into the subconscious mind gives him a place in the
annals of cinema as a prolific animator on a voyage into the surreal psychology
of the inner self.
Born in Denver, Colorado, in 1934, Jordan was introduced to filmmaking by
Stan Brakhage, one of the pioneers of American experimental film. As classmates,
they began to investigate the possibilities of filmed "psychodrama,"
a form of free-association using dream imagery. One of Jordan's earliest
films, One Romantic Adventure of Edward (1952) uses erotic visual
references assembled in the style of the then in-vogue classic school of
"Russian montage." Brakhage made his acting debut in this film
and both experimented with psycho-adventures throughout the 1950s, as did
other early experimental filmmakers such as Maya Deren.
Surrealism & Collage
Jordan attended Harvard University from 1951-53, where he became attracted
to the work of surrealist painter Max Ernst. He also recalls, due to his
active involvement with the university's film society, being influenced
by the work of another surrealist, Jean Cocteau, and in particular Blood
of a Poet. But it was through his reading of Ernst's collage novels,
Women Without a Head/Women with 100 Heads and A Week of Happiness,
that inspired him to collect engravings, then refilming them into what became
his first collage experiments. At the time, experimental filmmakers often
looked to the world of art and poetry in their quest to develop a new filmic
language using historical references.
In the 1950s, Jordan was spending time with Stan Brakhage on New York's
Lower East Side/The Bowery, where he had the chance to meet American collagist
and surrealist Joseph Cornell. Between 1955-65, Jordan studied and collaborated
with Cornell, who has remained a kind of spiritual mentor for his work.
Cornell, born in Nyack, New York in 1903, studied romance languages at Philips
Academy before starting his own obsessive career collecting visual fragments
from literature, dance, art and film publications to create masterpieces
of collage, culminating in his dimensional boxes. Cornell, also interested
in the work of Max Ernst and the surrealists, also made a trilogy of surrealist
films: Cotillion, Midnight Party and Children's Party. Jordan
has fond memories of Cornell as a cultural eccentric, passionate about poetic
engagement within the context of his "monologues."
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