Jud Yalkut
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Jud Yalkut (;1938–2013) was an
experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...
and
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
maker and
intermedia Intermedia is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the strategies of interdisciplinarity that occur within artworks existing between artistic genres. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to ...
artist.


Personal life

Jud Yalkut was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1938. In 1973, he moved to
Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
, Ohio, where he lived until his death at the age of 75 in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Ohio on July 23, 2013. He was married to Peg Rice.


Career

Yalkut attended
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, Montreal, where he studied poetry, before returning to his place of birth, New York, to take up film-making. While at McGill, Yalkut and
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
were fraternity brothers.


New York

In 1965 Yalkut became resident film-maker for USCO ('The Company of Us', a media arts collective). Yalkut created the following films for USCO events in the mid-sixties, some in collaboration with USCO members: ''Turn, Turn, Turn'' (USCO did the soundtrack), ''Ghost Rev'', ''Diffraction Film'', and ''Down By the Riverside''. Yalkut became interested in psychedelics, and produced a short film in 1966 titled ''D.M.T.'' The film featured slides by artist Jackie Cassen, choreography/dancing by Mary McKay, and the voice of Ralph Metzner reading from
Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...
's book ''Psychedelic Prayers: And Other Meditations''. In 1966 Yalkut started collaborating with
Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a South Korean artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" ...
, a working partnership that would continue into the 1970s. Together, Yalkut and Paik produced hybrid film-video works that combined moving image technologies, electronic manipulations, performance and installation. These works include ''Videotape Study No. 3'' (1967–69), ''Beatles Electroniques'' (1966–72) and ''Cinema Metaphysique'' (1966–72). As well as Paik, Yalkut worked with many other New York-based visual and performance artists. For example, in 1966 Yalkut created ''Moondial Film'', an experimental film that documented an "electromedia" happening by Aldo Tambellini. In 1967, Yalkut made a film of the Japanese artist
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and Installation art, installation, and she is also active in painting, performance art, performance, video art, Fashion design, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her wo ...
, ''Kusama’s Self-Obliteration,'' using multiple dissolves and additional superimpositions. In 1968, Yalkut collaborated with the dancer and choreographer
Trisha Brown Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her danc ...
, contributing a film to the dance, ''Planes,'' for projection onto the performance space''.'' The film included found aerial footage of New York City, rockets launching and microscopic imagery. During his time in New York, Yalkut organized film programs for Charlotte Moorman's New York Avant Garde Festivals. He also taught film-making courses at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
,
School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...
, and the Millennium Film Workshop.


Dayton

In 1973, Yalkut left New York and started a film and video program at
Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in ...
, Dayton, Ohio. He was one of the founders of Dayton Visual Arts Center. He taught at Sinclair Community College in Dayton and at
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...
in Cincinnati.


Notable exhibitions

* ''Dream Reels: VideoFilms and Environments by Jud Yalkut'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2000. * ''Jud Yalkut: Visions and Sur-Realities'', University of Dayton, Spring 2013 – a career retrospective.


Awards and commendations

In 1968 ''Kusama’s Self Obliteration'', Yalkut's 1967 collaborative film with Yayoi Kusama, won the Fourth International Experimental Film Competition in
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. Yalkut received six Individual Artist Fellowships and three Artist's Project Grants from the Ohio Arts Council. The Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District honoured him with a Master Individual Artist Fellowship and a Lifetime Achievement Fellowship in 2003. Many of Yalkut's films have been preserved by
Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...
through grants from the
National Film Preservation Foundation The National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) is an independent, nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America's film heritage. Growing from a national planning effort led by the Library of Congress, the NFPF began o ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yalkut, Jud 1938 births 2013 deaths Artists from Dayton, Ohio Xavier University faculty