Skip Blumberg (born October 10, 1947) is one of the original camcorder-for-broadcast TV producers, and among the first wave of video artists in the 1970s. His early work reflects the era's emphasis on guerrilla tactics and medium-specific graphics, but his more recent work takes on more global issues. His work has screened widely on television and at museums. His video Pick Up Your Feet: The Double Dutch Show (1981) is considered a classic documentary video and was included in the Museum of Television and Radio's exhibition TV Critics' All-time Favorite Shows. His cultural documentaries and performance videos have been broadcast on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
, National Geographic TV, Showtime, Bravo,
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
, among others.
He was a part of the early video collective
Videofreex The Videofreex were a pioneering video collective who used the Sony Portapak for countercultural video projects from 1969 to 1978. They were founded in 1969 by David Cort, Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Parry Teasdale, after Cort and Teasdale met each ot ...
.
He is currently producing works for
The My Hero Project The My Hero Project is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization established in 1995 by philanthropist Karen Pritzker, Jeanne Meyers and Rita Stern Milch that promotes the sharing of positive role models from around the world for the online digital story ...
. and
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
along with various independent productions.
Works
* When I was a Worker Like Lavern, 1976 - An early example of Blumberg's personal documentary approach begins as an informative look at the mail-order distribution process, and ends as a candid observation of management/labor relations.
* For a Moment You Fly, 1978 - A portrait of a unique one ring circus in NYC. This is an informal portrait of a circus that emphasizes "human-sized events" as an alternative to the mainstream circus, suggesting an affinity with Blumberg's own "human-sized" video as an alternative to mainstream television.
* Contests USA, 1980 - A three-part documentary; Summer Ski Jumping, The Ugly Dog Contest, Festival of (Musical) Saws, that explore the "extraordinary" aspects of "ordinary" people.
* Pick Up Your Feet: The Double Dutch Show, 1981 - A look at the young participants of the Double Dutch Championship in New York City.
*
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
- Since 1988, Skip Blumburg has created over 75 segments for the show.
*
Nick At Nite ID's, 1991 - Skip Blumburg created 4 ID's for the block using pixelation & rotoscoping.
* Cookie Girl in the Hot Zone, 2001 - A short produced for myhero.com about 12-year-old Jemma Brown, who started to serve cookies to the firefighters 3 days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
.
* Con Creep, 2001 - A portrait of a New York street musician who has maintained financial stability despite the constant presence of the police force.
Awards and honors
* Ohio State University Journalism Award
* Guggenheim Fellowship
* Participating Filmmaker - Sundance Institute Dance Video Lab
* Esquire Magazine’s “Best of the Next Generation”
* Museum of TV and Radio’s “TV Critics’ Favorite Shows of All-Time.”
See also
*
List of video artists
*
Ant Farm
*
TVTV
*
Chip Lord
Chip Lord is an American media artist and Professor Emeritus, UC Santa Cruz and residing in San Francisco. He is best known for his work with the alternative architecture and media collective known as Ant Farm, which he co-founded with Doug Michels ...
References
External links
*
Pick Up Your Feet: The Double Dutch Show on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumberg, Skip
Living people
American video artists
Artists from New York City
1947 births