Jim Jarmusch: Some Collages

posted by Emily Gosling September 3, 2021

Of all forms of visual art, collage makes perfect sense for director Jim Jarmusch. Known for his distinctive brand of darkly comic, staunchly genre-avoidant filmmaking; the works that stand out (to me at least) are those weaved together of disparate but somehow seemingly connected vignettes.

His 1991 feature Night on Earth, for instance, weaves together five stories on a single night, each focused on a cab driver and their passenger in a different city. Like a cut-and-pasted collage, each element—or story—stands alone, but as they conjoin to become the final work, they become more than the sum of their parts.

Likewise, his series of films Coffee and Cigarettes, comprising three shorts and a feature-length 2003 anthology, draw together short stories that share the fact that their subjects are chatting over coffee and cigarettes.

As a sort of monument to his love of juxtapositions and the absurd, Jarmusch’s new book Some Collages is published next month, his first ever monograph. It’s not, however, his first foray outside of moving image: his practice has spanned writing, producing, music, poetry and fine art.

These collages are the result of years spent honing his particular way with the format, producing hundreds of works using newspaper clippings layered on cardstock while on the road travelling, between takes when filming and in hotel rooms.

Recalling the likes of Hannah Hoch and early 20th century Dada works, Jarmusch’s collages often see heads and faces replaced with unexpected images (much like Liner’s iconic iron-faced woman on the sleeve for Orgasm Addict.)

Images range from depictions of “doppelgänger Andy Warhols” posed in a vast tunnel; to those that merge Patty Hearst’s face and Edwardian portraits; to a man with the head of a coyote, and so much more.

“In Some Collages, these small-scale (notecard-size) pieces not only pay homage to the documentation medium but are a reminder of how even the most mundane stock photography can be alternatively funny, scary and strange,” says publisher Anthology Editions.

Some Collages includes a foreword by writer and artist Luc Sante and an essay by writer and curator Randy Kennedy. “Seeing Jarmusch’s collages is like flipping through the Daily Bugle and suddenly realising that the paper has been taken over by pranksters who are giving you the real news…” says Sante. Your vision has been corrected. You are no longer semi consciously scanning now, but sitting upright and paying attention. The world reveals itself for what it really is.”