ABOUT THE VIDEOS

For a number of years I have worked with vernacular video recording and editing tools to create video poems and other moving pictures. I am particularly influenced by the work of Derek Jarman, another multi-discipline artist, who also used “low-fi” consumer tools like Super-8 to make his films. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Andrei Tarkovsky, Julie Dash, Akira Kurasawa and Aki Kaurismaki are other top filmic influences, though they are not associated with the vernacular in the same way.

a short 2015 video poem by Jay Besemer, with onscreen text. Closed captioning describes sounds.

a short abstract video by Jay Besemer (no language used; captions describe sounds)
A video poem by Jay Besemer featuring the poem of the same name, from his book THEORIES OF PERFORMANCE, available for preorder/order from publisher The Lette...
a video poem by Jay Besemer featuring text and audio versions of the piece by the same title from his book THEORIES OF PERFORMANCE now available for preorder...

PLEASE NOTE: THE VIDEO BELOW INCLUDES MILDLY FLICKERING LIGHT THAT COULD AFFECT INDIVIDUALS SENSITIVE TO SUCH STIMULUS.

an abstract video poem by Jay Besemer featuring a poem by the same title from his book THEORIES OF PERFORMANCE, available for preorder/order from The Lettere...

PLEASE NOTE: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS MILD FLICKERING LIGHT AND AUDITORY ELEMENTS THAT COULD PRODUCE ADVERSE OR HYPNOTIC REACTIONS IN SENSITIVE VIEWERS. USE CAUTION.

a video poem featuring text & audio versions of three pieces from Jay Besemer's book THEORIES OF PERFORMANCE, available for order/preorder from The Lettered ...
A poetic half-hour meditation on the blurring of inside space and outside space. Without the limits of narrative, this video explores the subtleties of perce...

An exploration of the comedic elements of surprise, timing, sound, color and light. There is no legible dialogue and no recognizable shapes. Closed captions describe audio elements.