Ken Jacobs is a film artist and researcher, well known for the frame-by-frame approach in creation of his works. Most of the time he uses old black and white movies as a basic material. Important particularity about his works is the way he presents them.
‘Nervous System’ is the series of performances he did by using two projectors at the same time. Projectors were made to be able to stop, to go back, to go forward at the frame, at a time, at different speeds (from 2 fps to 24 fps). Both projectors are projecting the same material, on the same space, one image on the top of the other. As well there is a propeller set up, in front of and between the projectors, which by its moves alternates the images. What artist does with material is pinning different frames, a two prints of the same film, against each other. He uses images not just to vibrate them against each other, but to merge them in very strange and mysterious ways. Due to the manipulation, two frames from the same film can create continuous movements – up, down, right and left, and also in many cases they bring space between two projections into three dimensions.
Mentioned visual phenomena are present in all his visual research works. But above all, most shocking and effective is the fact that through film medium he manages to questions the physical imbalance of a viewer. Amazing experience for a spectator starts when – after having a feeling of instinctive defence to ‘go inside’, after expectation that it will not bring an easy situation, and after (s)he accepts necessity of investment – (s)he finds himself in beautiful visual world of twinkles and pulsations. Everything looks unstable, nothing is for sure, there is a feeling that a lot of things can happen. To be a witness of existence of this world is, on one hand, experience that in a certain way liberates from all known modes of presentation in our visual culture, and on the other, conscious input about vast uncharted potentials that are hidden within the film as a medium.
Now, how work of this inspiring man comes in connection with my project?
On ontological level, even if my mind and my physical balance became totally insecure, I felt that I can stay with it (inside of it) without fear. The switch caused by passing over the threshold from known notions of reality towards uncharted unique visual world was enthralling. As I mentioned before, it was very liberating experience. On political, cultural and artistic level, I could recognize in his movies the possibility where the specific manipulation of images can free my thoughts from the established reality.
