Jem Cohen: NYC Weights and Measures
@ The Jewish Museum
1109 5th Ave @ 92nd St.
November 04, 2011 – March 25, 2012
In NYC Weights and Measures (2006), Jem Cohen chronicles a city that exudes noise and bustle, balanced with beauty and tranquility. A compendium of street footage, the video shows a ticker-tape parade, street musicians, the subways…life above and under ground. Cohen writes, “Sometimes I just wander around with my camera — I like to see what comes around the corner, and sometimes I just like the corner itself.”
About the Artist
Jem Cohen is a New York-based filmmaker who mixes documentary, narrative, and experimental genres, often building from his own ongoing archive of street footage, portraits and sound. Cohen’s work has been featured at various festivals and on television. His feature film Chain premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, was broadcast on Arte and the Sundance Channel and won an Independent Spirit Award. Benjamin Smoke, co-directed with Peter Sillen, was selected for festivals including Berlin, Edinburgh, Melbourne, London, and Vancouver.
Cohen has worked extensively with musicians including Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Fugazi, Vic Chesnutt, the Ex, Terry Riley, Elliott Smith, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, and the Orpheus Orchestra.
Watch Jem Cohen: NYC Weights and Measures on PBS. See more from Metrofocus.