‘Natural souvenirs’ and ocean sounds form a sea-salty celebration of the shore
The US animator and artist Al Jarnow is best known for the short films he’s directed for the children’s TV shows Sesame Street and The Electric Company. But this recognition perhaps belies the sophistication and all-ages appeal of his influential body of work, which has been displayed at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Shorelines (1977), exhibited here via the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, offers a seasalt-tinged taste of his visual charms. Crafted with meticulous care from an array of ‘natural souvenirs’ and beachside sounds, the stop-motion short evokes the unmistakable sensations of a trip to the edge of the ocean.
Director: Al Jarnow
Website: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

videoNature and landscape
Scenes from Aboriginal Australian pottery chart the turn of the seasons
7 minutes

videoNature and landscape
After independence, Mexico was in search of identity. These paintings offered a blueprint
15 minutes

videoConsciousness and altered states
What do screens depicting serene natural scenes mean to those living in lock-up?
12 minutes

videoArchitecture
A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture
14 minutes

videoHome
Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons
13 minutes

videoFilm and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes

videoNature and landscape
‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden
5 minutes

videoOceans and water
A stunning visualisation explores the intricate circulatory system of our oceans
5 minutes

videoBiology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes