Online through October 1, 2015
VDB TV is thrilled to present a free online program devoted to the pioneering works of the radical video collective, the Videofreex. This group of artists, storytellers, and activists produced and disseminated alternative media across New York and other U.S. communities during the 1970s, recording alternative events, mounting art exhibitions, and training others in the use of this then-emerging medium. The featured videos in this program are striking excerpts of the collective’s broad practice, including portraits of leading radicals from the Vietnam War era such as Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman and Black Panthers leader Fred Hampton. The rise of the feminist movement in the U.S. is also documented, alongside interviews with Hells Angels, early video erotica, social events, experimental video art, and footage of the Videofreex pirate TV studio during live broadcasts from their Lanesville, New York communal home.
This 70-minute survey highlights some of the most important, moving, and significant early video works from the Videofreex archive, each preserved as part of an ongoing VDB project to make this essential work accessible for generations to come.
About VDB TV
VDB TV is a rotating series of groundbreaking programs presenting essential video art, streaming free for the first time to the general public on the Video Data Bank website. From early media pioneers to extraordinary contemporary artists, VDB TV provides unprecedented access to the culturally significant VDB archive of over 6,000 video art titles. VDB TV is curated by prominent programmers and moving image art specialists from around the world. To advance accessibility of the collection, all programs included within VDB TV are close captioned for the hearing impaired.
VDB TV is supported in part by a Media Arts award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how NEA grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
About Video Data Bank
Founded at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 1976 at the inception of the media arts movement, the Video Data Bank is a leading resource in the United States for video by and about contemporary artists. The VDB Collection includes the work of more than 550 artists and 6,000 video art titles.
The VDB Collection is available to museums, galleries, educational institutions, libraries, cultural institutions and other exhibitors through a national and international distribution service. VDB works to foster a deeper understanding of video art, and to broaden access and exposure to media art histories through its programs and activities. These include preservation of historically important works of video art, the perpetuation of analog and digital archives, publishing of curated programs and artists’ monographs, the commissioning of essays and texts that contextualize artists’ work, and an extensive range of public programs.
