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Videofreex

VDB Videofreex

Videofreex, one of the first video collectives, was founded in 1969 by David Cort, Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Parry Teasdale, after David and Parry met each other, video cameras in hand, at the Woodstock Music Festival. Working out of a loft in lower Manhattan, the group's first major project was producing a live and tape TV presentation for the CBS network, The Now Show, for which they traveled the country, interviewing countercultural figures such as Abbie Hoffman and Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.

The group soon grew to ten full-time members--including Chuck Kennedy, Nancy Cain, Skip Blumberg, Davidson Gigliotti, Carol Vontobel, Bart Friedman and Ann Woodward--and produced tapes, installations and multimedia events. The Videofreex trained hundreds of makers in this brand new medium though the group's Media Bus project.

In 1971 the Freex moved to a 27-room, former boarding house called Maple Tree Farm in Lanesville, NY, operating one of the earliest media centers. Their innovative programming ranged from artists' tapes and performances to behind-the-scenes coverage of national politics and alternate culture. They also covered their Catskill Mountain hamlet, and in early 1972 they launched the first pirate TV station, Lanesville TV. An exuberant experiment with two-way, interactive broadcasting, it used live phone-ins and stretched cameras to the highway, transmitting whatever the active minds of the Freex coupled with their early video gear could share with their rural viewers.

During the decade that the Freex were together, this pioneer video group amassed an archive of 1,500+ raw tapes and edits.

In 2001, the Video Data Bank began assembling this unique archive of original 1/2-inch open-reel videos, collecting them from basements and attics where the tapes were stored. A restoration plan was hammered out in 2007 and a distribution contract was signed between VDB and the newly formalized Videofreex Partnership (administered by Skip Blumberg).

The Videofreex Archive, now housed at VDB, chronicles the countercultural movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The  titles listed here are the first wave of an ongoing project to preserve and digitize important examples of this early video.

More About the Videofreex Archive Preservation

Also see:

Parry Teasdale: An Interview

Videofreex Official Website


Available Titles by Videofreex

Title Year Runtime Collection
After the Bar with Tony and Michael 1971 00:56:10 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Aldo Tambellini: Vision & Television 1970 01:30:10 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Ann's Bread 1970 00:07:23 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Artie Seale (Mrs. Bobby Seale) 1969 00:20:45 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Aunt Betty's Birthday Party 1972 00:58:33 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Building Dome in Riverbi Earth People's Park 1971 00:33:10 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Buzzy Linhart 1970 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
CBS--Lily and Cleaver Tapes 1971 00:23:36 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Chicago Travelogue: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and the Yippies 1969 00:40:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Chicago Travelogue: The Weathermen 1969 00:22:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Chicken Dinner 1971 00:05:53 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Christmas Carols in the Shower 1971 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Circo dell'Arte (Circus Arts) 1969 00:06:40 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Construction Workers' Rally 1970 00:32:34 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Curtis's Abortion 1970 00:22:59 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
David Peel, Columbia and Wall Street 1971 00:23:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Davidson's Jail Tape 1971 00:27:20 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Dr. Hip Pocrates 1969 01:00:59 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Electric Yogurt 1970 00:32:27 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Everson Museum: Video and the Museum Conference 1974 00:33:01 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
First Snow, Thanksgiving 1971 1971 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Franklin Commune, Vermont, August 1970 1970 00:59:50 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Fred Hampton: Black Panthers in Chicago 1969 00:24:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Fred Hampton: Chant and Demonstration 1970 00:04:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Freex German TV 1971 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Greetings from Lanesville 1976 00:28:46 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Harriet 1973 00:13:33 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Hells Angels Party 1970 00:40:34 Videofreex Archive
Hells Angels with Sandy Alexander 1970 00:37:59 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Hells Angels' Run 1970 00:15:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Incredible String Band 1969 00:23:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
The Jerusalem Tapes 1971 12:16:59 Videofreex Archive
Jerusalem Tapes: Israeli Black Panther on the Street 1971 00:34:06 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Jerusalem Tapes: Second Brain, Arab Feedback 1971 00:33:09 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Jesse Ritter Lecture 1969 00:06:59 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Knitting and Feedback 1970 00:32:54 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV News Buggy 1972 00:16:23 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV Overview I 1972 00:32:18 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV Overview II 1971 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV Overview III 1971 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV: April 6th, 1974 1974 00:40:28 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV: Catskill Game Farm Horse Show 1972 00:18:40 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV: Frank “the Fist” Farkle vs. Rocky Van Fight 1974 01:02:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV: January 26th, 1973 1973 00:20:23 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville TV: May 18th 1974 1974 00:52:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lanesville UFO Incident 1976 00:08:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Laser Games with Shirley Clarke 1971 00:32:49 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Last Party at West End Avenue before Leaving for the Country 1971 00:29:44 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Late Night Kitchen Discussion 1971 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Laughing Song and Crying Song 1971 00:05:17 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Lucy Montgomery 1969 00:35:41 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Me's and Youse 1971 00:04:20 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Me's and Youse Variant 1971 00:01:22 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Miami Drive, Draft Counsel, Superman in the Grove 1971 01:05:49 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Money 1970 00:02:35 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Mrs. Bobby Seale 1969 00:20:45 Videofreex Archive
Musica Electronica Viva at Baggie's 1970 01:30:39 On Art and Artists, Single Titles
Nancy's Drug Problem 1971 00:08:35 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Nancy's Party 1970 00:20:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
New Haven Panther: Message to Goddard Alternative Media Conference 1970 00:31:45 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
New Haven: Abbie Hoffman and the National Guard 1970 00:22:53 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Portapak Conversation 1973 00:08:25 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Process Video Revolution 1971 00:23:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Ricky's Magic 1971 00:17:50 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Rome N.Y. 1971 00:16:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Rose Art Museum: Vision & Television 1970 00:59:34 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Selections from the Five Day Bicycle Race (Image Union) 1976 01:01:04 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
The Sheik Who Shook Lanesville 1975 00:12:58 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Shirley Clarke and the Camera 1971 00:16:18 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Snow (I Wish There Was Cars) 1971 00:07:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Soup in Cup 1972 00:04:40 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
St. Marks: New Years Eve 1970 00:22:40 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
The Swing 1972 00:17:20 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Sybil 1970 00:03:25 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Tosun Bayrak's Love America or Live 1970 00:46:15 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Tosun's Dinner and Wake 1971 00:32:14 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Trashing and Gassing in Miami: The 1972 Republican Convention 1972 00:32:14 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Tuned In, Turned On! Videofreex Tape the World 2011 01:12:07 Single Artist Compilations, Videofreex Archive
Video Games 1973 00:37:43 Videofreex Archive
What's That For? 1970 00:06:41 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
The Whitelake Woodstock Aquarian Exposition 1969 00:43:06 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Women's Lib Demonstration NYC 1970 00:23:30 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Women's Lib Discussion: Burning Theatre and Alternate U 1970 01:08:40 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Women's Lib Rally 1970 01:09:00 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Women’s Conference, Rochester 1971 00:18:04 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Woodstock Festival 1969: First Aid 1969 00:46:50 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles
Yoko Ono Show at The Everson Museum 1971 00:36:13 Videofreex Archive, Single Titles

Related Content

Press
Did you know about Videofreex?
Second Sundays: Intercourse 3 & Videofreex
Videofreex on the frontier: Shooting and sharing video
Videofreex at National Gallery of Art
Videofreex at the District of Columbia Arts Center
Feminist Resource: Video Data Bank
News
VDB Announces New Videofreex Releases
Here Come the Videofreex – Save the Tapes!
We're All Videofreex
TUNED IN, TURNED ON! Videofreex Tape the World at WRO Biennale
Essay
Surveying the First Decade: Video Art and Alternative Media in the U.S. 1968-1980: Attention! Production! Audience! Performing Video in its First Decade, 1968-1980

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