BIOGRAPHY
Born: the Bronx, New York 1940.
Lives and works: Brooklyn, New York
Vito Acconci describes a career in which each new step meant rejecting the one before. He portrays himself as someone whose art developed out of a series of philosophical crises, a series of manifestos that he undermined over and over until he rejected art altogether and switched to architecture (of a sort). Now he’s busy wondering about the architecture.
Acconci’s design and architecture practice comes from a
background first in writing and then in art. He has always been
writing scripts – first in poetry and narrative, then in performance
scenarios and installation plotting, and now (through Acconci Studio)
in operational and algorithmic design. The Studio’s methods come from
computer-thinking, and mathematical and biological models; they treat
architecture as occasions for activity; they make spaces fluid,
changeable, portable. They recently completed a person-made twisting
island in Graz and a clothing store as soft as skin in Tokyo; they are
working now on a bulging restaurant in Milan and housing folded within
a terraced mountain in the south of France.
'RE:’ poem, 1960's
‘following piece’, 1969
courtesy acconci studio © vito acconci
‘following piece’ documents a performance, in the course of the action,
the artist followed different people in the street.
the action stopped suddenly, each time the person entered a private space.
with this simple gesture, acconci transcends the relativity of the learned
rules and behaviors concerning the distinction between private and public.
the act of following could last a few minutes, if the person then got into a car,
or four or five hours, if the person went to a cinema or restaurant.
acconci carried out this performance everyday for a month.
and he typed up an account of each 'pursuit', sending it each time to a different
member of the art community.
the concept was of the participation of persons who did not specifically agree
to participate. it relied on persons who did not even know that they were being used.
Excerpts from documentation:
Oct 14
5PM, 6th Ave & 4th St, SW corner: Man with black attache case -- he walks S on 6th Ave.
5:01PM: he goes down into IND subway station, 6th Ave & 3rd St, and stands on uptown side, upper platform.
5:08PM: he boards F train uptown.
5:50PM: he gets off at 169th St, Jamaica; he stands on line at bus stop, Hillside Ave & Homelawn St.
5:59PM: he boards 17A bus; line is too long and I’m too far behind him – I can’t get on.
Oct 23
2PM, Christopher St & Hudson, NE corner: Man in striped pants -- he walks S on Hudson St, E side of street.
2:04PM: he enters L & L Locksmith’s, 442 Hudson St; he goes behind counter and spends next few hours there.
6:12PM: he leaves store, locks it, and enters adjacent building.
Adaptation Studies (1. Blindfold Catching) 1970
Super 8 film, black and white, 3 min., silent
Fixed camera shoots me, full-body, standing blindfolded with my back to the wall: from off-screen, rubber balls are thrown at me, one at a time, over and over again.
Step Piece (Steps: Stepping-off Place) 1972
Artist's Statement: “An 18-inch stool is set up in my apartment and used as a step. Each morning, during the designated months, I step up and down the stool at the rate of 30 steps per minute. Each morning, the activity lasts as long as I can perform it without stopping…Announcements are sent to the public, who can see the activity performed, in my apartment, any time during the performance-months.”
‘where are we now (who are we anyway?),' 1976
by vito acconci © vito acconci
A plank that changes function: it starts by settling into
the room as a table, eight stools on either side - but it
doesn't stop there, it continues toward the window,
extends out the window and becomes a diving board.’
Convertible Clam Shelter 1990
fiberglass, galvanized steel, clamshells, audio and lights.
Two large clams that invite interaction. A softly-glowing built-in orb and relaxing music lull the weary visitor into a relaxed state, an interesting paradox for something (visiting an art museum) that's typically seen as a meditative act.
Adjustable Wall Bra, 1990-91.
"I want to put the viewer on shaky ground," Acconci has said, "so he has to reconsider himself and his circumstances." Adjustable Wall Bra prompts just this doubt. One possible reflexive response to it, sexual desire, is mocked by the work's size; another reduces us to infants dwarfed by their mother. Yet nothing says that the giantess implicit here is unfriendly. In fact the work is wittily accommodating.
Hinged in the center, the bra can be variously installed: both cups against the wall; one against the wall, one hanging outward, or on the wall adjoining; one cup on the wall, the other on the floor, or bridging wall and floor, or bulging from the ceiling. The cups are lined with canvas, and you can sit in them; and on the floor they suggest a tent or igloo. Its form invokes clothing, its scale evokes both furniture and architecture, and the work itself speaks of physical shelter. Even as its size disconcerts, its humor reassures: the cups light up, and built-in speakers broadcast steady breathing.
Instant House, 1980.
Flags, wood, springs, ropes, and pulleys, installation view.
'House of Cars #2' 1988
Mobile Linear City
Park up a Buiding
World in your Bones
United Bambo Store
Daikanyama, Tokyo, 2003
Steel mesh, steel pipe, faceted glass, PVC projection material, fluorescent lights, photo-booth camera, computer screen, video projection, i pods & headphones.
Detail of Roof Like a Liquid Flung over the Plaza, 2003
Canon Performing Arts Center, Memphis, TN
courtesy acconci studio © vito acconci
STUDIES
Drawing of Corner Plaza, 2001,
Canon Performing Arts Center, Memphis, TN
Courtesy acconci studio © vito acconci.
Maquette (model) for a park
‘Mur’ Island, 2003 Graz, Austria
Courtesy acconci studio © vito acconci.
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