The Whirled comprises four short films: Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice, 1956; Little Cobra Dance, 1956; Hunch Your Back, 1963 (which features footage of Jacobs and Carolee Schneemann appearing on a daytime quiz show), and Death of P'Town (1961).

Ken Jacobs writes: "The first two sections were shot around Jack's loft on Reade Street on two 100' 16 mm rolls. Sunday morning, following Saturday's sacrifice, I saw there was another 50 feet left. In an impromptu way, very different from my initial fastidious art-film approach, I quickly filmed Jack on the roof alongside his loft. The results had us falling onto the floor and I would never be an art-film true-believer again. After years of shooting my raging epic STAR SPANGLED TO DEATH starring Jack as The Spirit Not of Life But of Living, and after a few months of being on the outs with each other, we got together -- summer of '61 in Provincetown -- for one last stab at friendship and the making of a film. In 1963, a snatch of Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice was shown on TV. I had somehow been invited to participate in a TV quiz program called Back Your Hunch. (Or was it Hunch Your Back?)"

Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice and Little Cobra Dance (1956), TV Plug (1963), The Death of P'Town, (1961). Starring Jack Smith. Video from 16mm. film. Ken Jacobs 2007.

Transcript

THE WHIRLED

The Saturday Afternoon Blood Sacrifice and Little Cobra Dance, 1965

TV Plug, 1963

The Death of P?Town, 1961

video from 16mm. film ©2007 Ken Jacobs

See also