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Greene County pirate TV group reviewed in Times
Mar 01, 2015 3:39 pm
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Parry Teasdale in 1971.[/caption]Susan Hodarafeb in The New York Times reviews the Videofreex "The Art of Guerrilla Television" art show at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. The group -- which included Parry Teasdale, the publisher of The Columbia Paper -- started what may be the nation's first pirate television station, Lanesville TV, in the early 1970s in Greene County. The exhibition includes more than 170 photographs, drawings, publications, installations, video recordings, pieces of audiovisual equipment, and other items, many from their Greene County. The group met at Woodstock, and was hired by CBS to produced a news show "Subject to Change" aimed at the counter-culture of the day. When CBS eventually ditched the project and fired the executive responsible for the idea, they left New York City for Greene County. Teasdale helped write the guerrilla broadcasting chapter in Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book," which paid for a transmitter they brought to Lanesville, near Tannersville and Hunter. From the review: "Determined to use the airwaves to reach audiences, Videofreex started Lanesville TV, believed to be the country’s first pirate television station. From 1972 to 1977, the collective’s members created approximately 258 programs geared toward, and often featuring, local residents. Museumgoers can watch examples on a large display and on their smartphones using QR codes. One selection, 'The Buckaroo Bart Show,' stars Mr. Friedman as a cowboy and a young neighbor, John Benjamin, as 'Sheriff John.' In 'Harriet,' John’s mother, Harriet Benjamin, acts out a fantasy of abandoning the tedium of housekeeping. 'Goodbye, Lanesville!' she declares as she climbs into a car and drives off." Read the full review in The New York Times.
Parry Teasdale in 1971.[/caption]Susan Hodarafeb in The New York Times reviews the Videofreex "The Art of Guerrilla Television" art show at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. The group -- which included Parry Teasdale, the publisher of The Columbia Paper -- started what may be the nation's first pirate television station, Lanesville TV, in the early 1970s in Greene County. The exhibition includes more than 170 photographs, drawings, publications, installations, video recordings, pieces of audiovisual equipment, and other items, many from their Greene County. The group met at Woodstock, and was hired by CBS to produced a news show "Subject to Change" aimed at the counter-culture of the day. When CBS eventually ditched the project and fired the executive responsible for the idea, they left New York City for Greene County. Teasdale helped write the guerrilla broadcasting chapter in Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book," which paid for a transmitter they brought to Lanesville, near Tannersville and Hunter. From the review: "Determined to use the airwaves to reach audiences, Videofreex started Lanesville TV, believed to be the country’s first pirate television station. From 1972 to 1977, the collective’s members created approximately 258 programs geared toward, and often featuring, local residents. Museumgoers can watch examples on a large display and on their smartphones using QR codes. One selection, 'The Buckaroo Bart Show,' stars Mr. Friedman as a cowboy and a young neighbor, John Benjamin, as 'Sheriff John.' In 'Harriet,' John’s mother, Harriet Benjamin, acts out a fantasy of abandoning the tedium of housekeeping. 'Goodbye, Lanesville!' she declares as she climbs into a car and drives off." Read the full review in The New York Times.