Vito Acconci

The Bronx, New York, 1940 - 2017, Manhattan, New York

BiographyA poet of the New York School in the early and mid-'60s, Vito Acconci moved toward performance, sound, and video work at the end of the decade. His work moved in a different direction in order to "define my body in space, find a ground for myself, an alternate ground for the page ground I had as a poet." Acconci's early performances, including Claim (1971) and Seedbed (1972), were extremely controversial—transgressing assumed boundaries between public and private space and between audience and performer. Positioning his own body as the simultaneous subject and object of his work, Acconci's early videotapes took advantage of the medium's self-reflexive potential in mediating his own and the viewer's attention. Consistently exploring the dynamics of intimacy, trust, and power, the focus of Acconci's projects gradually moved from his physical body (Conversions, 1971) toward the psychology of interpersonal transactions (Pryings, 1971) and, later, to the cultural and political implications of the performative space he set up for the camera (The Red Tapes, 1976). Since the late '70s, Acconci has designed architectural and installation works for public spaces. http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$tapedetail?VITOACCONC_004In the Spring of 1993, Vito Acconci was the Milton Avery Professor of Art at Bard College, an exhibition of his video work was shown at the Center of Curatorial Studies to coorespond with the appointment.

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