“I'm not an abstract artist; I leave that to others. To me, abstract art ended with Kazimir Malevich's 'Black Square.' To continue it is senseless.” ArtArtistBlackAbstractSquaresAbstract Art Author:Jonas Mekas
“Most of my videos consist of fragments, one or two minutes long. They are haikus or sketches. I have thousands.” LongTwoMinutesVideoFragmentsHaiku Author:Jonas Mekas
“In 1962, we created the Filmmakers' Co-Op because nobody wanted to distribute our films. If we had the Internet in those days, we wouldn't have needed the Co-Op.” IfsWantedFilmInternetNeededFilmmaker Author:Jonas Mekas
“There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.” WayBreakSensesOfficialsConventionsFrozenCinematic Book:Movie Journal: The Rise of New American Cinema, 1959-1971 Source: Movie Journal: The Rise of New American Cinema, 1959-1971
“Some cameras are heavier and need to be on tripods. Others are small enough to hide in your pocket. There are places where you don't want to feel like you are disturbing anything, so I may use a camera like that.” WantNeedsFeelsMayEnoughUseLike YouCamerasPocketsDisturbingTripods Author:Jonas Mekas
“I'm working in a form of cinema that can be described, and has been described, as a diaristic form of cinema. In other words, with material from my own life. I walk through life with my camera, and occasionally I film. I never think about scripts, never think about films, making films.” ThinkingHas BeensFilmFormMy OwnWalksMaterialsCamerasScriptsCinemaMy Own Life Author:Jonas Mekas
“I am very active on the Internet. In 2007, I made one film every day and posted it on my website. That was a 365-day project, really exhausting, but I still put a lot of stuff on - from life, friends, my own life.” MadeStillsFilmStuffMy OwnInternetProjectsActiveWebsiteMy Own LifeExhausting Author:Jonas Mekas
“Once you change the technology - from a film camera to a video camera, or from an 8-mm camera to 16 mm - you change completely the content. With 8 mm, a leaf on a tree will be made up of maybe four grains. So it's very impressionistic, almost like Seurat. If you switch to 16 mm, the technology gives you hundreds of grains on that leaf.” IfsGivingMadeFilmTechnologyFourTreeCamerasVideoGrainLeafsVideo Cameras Author:Jonas Mekas
“I'm not so much in the future as always in the present. The future always takes care of itself. What I do now with my video camera, it can only record what is happening now. I am celebrating reality and the essence of the moment. And that's the greatest challenge that I have.” MomentsRealityCareChallengesRecordsHappeningsEssenceCamerasTake CareVideoCelebrateVideo Cameras Author:Jonas Mekas