Vito Acconci

Biography

Vito Acconci (January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His performance and video art was characterized by "existential unease," exhibitionism, discomfort, transgression and provocation, as well as wit and audacity, and often involved crossing boundaries such as public–private, consensual–nonconsensual, and real world–art world. His work is considered to have influenced artists including Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, Bruce Nauman, and Tracey Emin, among others. Acconci was initially interested in radical poetry, creating 0 to 9 Magazine, but by the late 1960s he began creating Situationist-influenced performances in the street or for small audiences that explored the body and public space. Two of his most famous pieces were Following Piece (1969), in which he selected random passersby on New York City streets and followed them for as long as he was able, and Seedbed (1972), in which he claimed that he masturbated while under a temporary floor at the Sonnabend Gallery, as visitors walked above and heard him speaking. In the late-19…

Directed

1. See Through (1970) — Director
2. Undertone (1972) — Director
3. Theme Song (1973) — Director
4. Centers (1971) — Director
5. Applications (1970) — Director
6. Three Adaptation Studies (1970) — Director
7. Pryings (1971) — Director
8. Two Track (1971) — Director
9. Open Book (1974) — Director
10. Face-Off (1973) — Director
11. Seedbed (1972) — Director
12. Remote Control (1971) — Director
13. Association Area (1971) — Director
14. Claim Excerpts (1971) — Director
15. Conversions 1 (1971) — Director
16. My Word (1974) — Director
17. Turn-On (1974) — Director
18. The Red Tapes (1977) — Director
19. Three Attention Studies (1969) — Director
20. Digging Piece (1970) — Director
21. Flour/Breath Piece (1970) — Director
22. Gargle/Spit Piece (1970) — Director
23. Two Takes — Director
24. Openings (1970) — Director
25. Face of the Earth (1974) — Director
26. Shoot (1974) — Director
27. Breath In (To) / Out (Of) (1971) — Director
28. Watch (1971) — Director
29. Waterways (Burst; Storage) (1971) — Director
30. Training Ground (1971) — Director
31. Directions (1971) — Director
32. Cross-Fronts (1972) — Director
33. Face to Face (1972) — Director
34. Hand to Hand (1972) — Director
35. Go Between (1972) — Director
36. Anchors (1972) — Director
37. Break-Through (1970) — Director
38. Filling Up Space (1970) — Director
39. Three Frame Studies (1970) — Director
40. Two Cover Studies (1970) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Burden (2016) — Self
2. Chelsea on the Rocks (2008) — Self
3. The Golden Boat (1991) — Swiss assassin
4. Revenge of the Mekons (2013) — Self
5. Journeys from Berlin/1971 (1980)
6. You're Going to Die! (2006) — Narrator
7. Steven Holl: The Body in Space (1999) — Self
8. How to Fly (1981)
9. Seedbed (1972)
10. Undertone (1972) — Vito Acconci
11. Centers (1971) — Self
12. Pryings (1971)
13. Digging Piece (1970) — Self
14. Flour/Breath Piece (1970) — Self
15. Gargle/Spit Piece (1970) — Self
16. Two Takes — Self
17. Conversions 1 (1971) — Himself
18. Three Adaptation Studies (1970) — Himself
19. Remote Control (1971) — Himself
20. Association Area (1971) — Himself
21. Claim Excerpts (1971) — Himself
22. My Word (1974) — Himself
23. Turn-On (1974) — Himself
24. Willoughby Sharp Videoviews Vito Acconci (1973) — Himself
25. The Red Tapes (1977) — Himself
26. 14 Americans: Directions of the 1970s (1981) — Himself
27. The Art of Time (2009) — Self
28. Body Art (1975) — Self
29. Aktionskunst International. Dokumente zum Internationalen Aktionismus (1989) — Self
30. America Is Not Ready for This (2012) — Self