Gene Youngblood

Bio

GENE YOUNGBLOOD was an internationally known theorist of media arts and politics. His book Expanded Cinema (1970), the first to consider video as an art form, was seminal in establishing Media Art as a recognized scholarly and artistic discipline. He was also widely known as a pioneering voice in the media democracy movement, and taught, wrote and lectured on the subject since 1970. Michael Parenti called Youngblood “a leading critic of media culture.” BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast thinks he was “a true revolutionary.” Alternative Radio founder David Barsamian notes Youngblood’s “deep and early insight into how culture is manufactured.” Film director Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop) called him “one of our great natural resources.” Actor-activist Peter Coyote said Youngblood “illuminates dark corners … reminding us that ethics and morality are essential parts of the agreement we call reality.” Paul Krassner, publisher of The Realist, said Youngblood’s writings on counterculture “capture the spirit of a time when there was an evolutionary jump in consciousness, inspiring a sense of hope that it’s happening again now.”

More Information

• Secession From the Broadcast
• Radical Change Presupposes Radical Will
• Utopia

• The Challenge to Build on the same scale as we can destroy (video with introduction)
• Gene Youngblood on Wikipedia