Videofreex Archive
Videofreex, one of the first video collectives, was founded in 1969 by David Cort, Curtis Ratcliff and Parry Teasdale, after David and Parry met each other, video cameras in hand, at the Woodstock Music Festival. 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. In 1971 the Freex moved to a 17-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. During the decade that the Freex were together, this pioneer video group amassed an archive of 1,500+ raw tapes and edits.
The Videofreex Archive, now housed at VDB, chronicles the counter-cultural movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The titles listed here are the early results of an ongoing project to preserve and digitize important examples of this early video art collective.
More About the Videofreex Archive Preservation
  An early example of video erotica from the Videofreex. A group of naked people lounge around smoking and listening to music. A male and female couple is making love on the floor in a room full of monitors. The couple talks about sex and...
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: body, documentation, film or videomaking, sexuality |
A great example of early 1970s counter-cultural activity and the influence of Buckminster Fuller. The video, shot in Woodstock, NY in November 1971, includes footage of a communal meal being eaten in the woods, and of children playing in the mud...
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: architecture, culture jamming, documentation, history |
The Videofreex had been attempting to get their interview with the late Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, broadcast on mainstream television by CBS. However, the Videofreex had been told that their half-...
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: activism, african-american, documentation, film or videomaking, history, politics |
Shot in October 1969, this tape gives an inside view of the workings of late-sixties radical groups and the debates going on within their ranks. At a meeting of Yippies, there is a discussion about the nuts and bolts of fundraising through...
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: activism, documentation, history, politics |
An interview with a group of people shot in October 1969, some of whom were involved in The Weathermen’s "Days of Rage" actions. As those present recount the significance of the actions, and the possible ramifications on the movement as a whole...
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: activism, crime or violence, documentation, politics |
The Videofreex tape a group of young people working on a farm run by Chris Locke and his wife in Shandaken, NY. After learning how to take care of the chickens, they are taught how to kill and pluck one. Later they sit down for a...
Collection: New Releases, Videofreex Archive, Single Titles Tags: animals, art collective, consumer culture, environment, youth/childhood |
A troupe of male and female jugglers and musicians perform for a growing crowd in Central Park, New York, led by Hovey Burgess and Judy Finelli. The sun is shining, and the troupe are skilful, playful, and flirtatious. The crowd of...
Collection: New Releases, Videofreex Archive, Single Titles Tags: body, city, love, music, performance |
Footage from the May Day 1971 events in Washington DC. Davidson, a Videofreex member, gets arrested, and what follows is rarely seen footage of the inside of the detainment bus and the jail cell, videotaped by an arrestee. The scene on the bus...
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: activism, documentation, history |
The Videofreex conducted this interview with Fred Hampton, the Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, in October 1969, just over a month before he was killed by the Chicago police.
Collection: Videofreex Archive, Early Video Art, Single Titles Tags: activism, african-american, crime or violence, death and dying, history, interview, race |
