Jonas Mekas

Diaries, Notes & Sketches, also known as Walden, first draft edition [Original film poster]

New York: Jonas Mekas, 1969. Offset. 22 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. Very good; minor edge wear. . Item #6939

Poster for “Diaries, Notes & Sketches,” listing scenes across the film’s four reels and annotating them with the music cues and time stamps. 

Designed as a viewing guide for the film, this poster allows the viewer to engage with the work “according to the time available to him, according to his preference, or any other good reason.” “Diaries, Notes & Sketches” comprised a first draft of what would become “Walden,” Mekas's first diary film. He writes in the introduction that following a fire that nearly destroyed five years of his work, he decided to release this version of the film despite it not being completely polished, as he thought it best to put a first draft out as soon as he could. The film was available for rent from the Film-Makers’ Cooperative, a group founded in 1962 to support the distribution of avant-garde film. 

Between 1965–1969 Mekas captured footage of leading figures of the avant-garde cinema and downtown arts scenes including Gerard Malanga, Nico, Edie Sedgewick, Judith Malina, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono in performative as well as candid moments. These scenes are interspersed with abstract imagery, street scenes, and shots of nature. .

Price: $3,500.00