Series: New Television
Program: New Television
Episode: 310
Date: 1987-01-01
Duration: 00:00:39

Subject: Interviews; Beekeepers; Horse racing
People: Geller, Matthew; Lee, John
Copyright Holder: Matthew Geller

Clip Description
In Matthew Geller's "Bees and Thoroughbreds," three individuals are interviewed about the worlds they inhabit. John Lee, a horseracing correspondent, Mark Thompson, a beekeeper, and Bonnie O'Neill, a private detective.

Images of beekeeping and horse training are played over John Lee's commentary about the veterinary care of racehorses.

Program Description
This episode of "New Television" features Matthew Geller's "Bees and Thoroughbreds."

Geller's video essay looks at the lives of a beekeeper, a racetrack correspondent, and a private detective, and the worlds they inhabit.

John Lee, a horseracing correspondent, tells about life at the track, outlining betting patterns and the particular characters (bookies, "stoopers" - who search for discarded winning tickets) who appear in that arena.

Mark Thompson, a beekeeper, is filmed attending to his bees, which swarm all over him. Thompson explains the life of bees, giving details of their mating habits and the larger social structure of the hive. Showing off his large library, he also discusses the research that has been created about bees, and what it reveals about the society of its author.

Bonnie O'Neill, a private detective, talks about the deceit involved in undercover work. She tells the story of a job she worked involving a wealthy man who was robbed by his wife.

The three stories are edited to overlap. As they intertwine, parallels and relationships among the narratives evolve. The details of the lives of these three become windows to the larger world. Produced by Matthew Geller.

Series Description
The New Television Workshop originated at WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1974 to support the creation and development of experimental video art. This experimental programming included dance, drama, music, performance and visual arts on video and film. As early as 1968, WGBH was committed to the development of video art through residency programs, with artists such as Nam June Paik, and the "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" project. Many of these early works (pre-1974) were broadcast both locally and nationally.

As an umbrella for arts related programming, the Workshop included "Artist's Showcase, " "Frames of Reference, " "Dance for Camera, " "Poetry Breaks," and "New Television," as well as acquired arts programming. Individual works were created for "Visions," a series produced by WNET (New York), and "Alive From Off Center," a series produced by KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis). The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was co-founded by the Workshop and Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in the 1980's, to commission works by video artists. In 1993 the Workshop ceased production at WGBH.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/NTW/FA/TITLES/Bees160.HTML