Critical Writing Index

Early Video Pioneer: An Interview with Skip Blumberg

by Melanie La Rosa

Journal of Film and Video, Spring 2012, v. 64, no. 1-2, pp. 30-41

Interview with pioneering early videomaker Skip Blumberg, looking back with special emphasis on his work in the Videofreex collective. Blumberg reflects on video's exciting place/role in the counterculture movements of the late 60s, and discusses the cinéma vérité process that went into many of his video documentaries of the time. Videofreex's "pirate TV" station in Lanesville, NY, which fostered with audiences "live, interactive, and open-sourcing parallels to today's Internet and social media," is also discussed, including details on a humorous UFO mockumentary produced by the station. Blumberg speaks admiringly about Nam June Paik's immeasurable impact on the history of video. Concerned with the casual neglect of video's legacy, Blumberg makes a plea for self-contained history of video and production video courses in universities, and suggests a wiki site as a way to preserve and develop video history online.

ITEM 2012.034 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

UFOLanesville TV (Videofreex)

Four More YearsTVTV