Walden: Reel 21969

Filmed in 1964-68. Edited in 1968-69. In Walden, he asserts that the images shown are "for myself and for a few others," suggesting an intimate circle of friends. This was in fact true, as Walden's first screening was an informal "first draft" version at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo. By showing details of his family life, and of outings and time spent with friends, Mekas extends an invitation to his viewer to partake in their beauty. [These images] are not much different from what you have seen or experienced," he says in As I Was Moving Ahead. "There is no big difference, no essential difference between you and me." To watch a Mekas film is to experience the intimacy of someone sharing his life with you. "Kreeping Kreplachs meet (Ginsberg, Ed Sanders, Tuli, Warhol, Barbara Rubin, etc)/ Hare Krishna walk; autumn scenes; Sitney's wedding; New Year's Evening in Times Square; Goofing on 42nd Street; UPtown Party; Velevet Underground; Deep of Winter; Naomi visits Ken & Flo Jacobs; Amy stops for Coffee; Coop Directors meet; Dreams of Cocteau; In Central Park' What Leslie saw thru the Coop window; Olmsted Hike." – J.M.