
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-1970s, he turned to sculpture, architecture and design, greatly increasing the scale of his work, if not his art world profile. Over the next two decades he developed public artworks and parks, airport rest areas, artificial islands and other architectural projects that frequently embraced participation, change and playfulness. Notable works of this period include: Personal Island, designed for Zwolle, the Netherlands (1994); Walkways Through the Wall at the Wisconsin Center, in Milwaukee, WI (1998); and Murinsel, for Graz, Austria (2003). Retrospectives of Acconci's work have been organized by the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1978) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1980), and his work is in numerous public collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art. He has been recognized with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1976, 1980, 1983, 1993), John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1979), and American Academy in Rome (1986).[6] In addition to his art and design work, Acconci taught at many higher learning institutions. Acconci died on April 27, 2017, in Manhattan at age 77.
Filmografi
Burden2016 · Self
Aktionskunst International. Dokumente zum Internationalen Aktionismus1989 · Self
Revenge of the Mekons2013 · Self
Body Art1975 · Self
America Is Not Ready for This2012 · Self
14 Americans: Directions of the 1970s1981 · Himself
Chelsea on the Rocks2008 · Self
The Golden Boat1991 · Swiss assassin
Journeys from Berlin/19711980 ·
The Art of Time2009 · Self
Seedbed1972 ·
Association Area1971 · Himself
Digging Piece1970 · Self
Two Takes · Self
Steven Holl: The Body in Space1999 · Self
The Red Tapes1977 · Himself
Centers1971 · Self
Remote Control1971 · Himself
Marina Abramović
Carolee Schneemann
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John McEnroe
Fred Armisen
Otto Muehl
Jens Jørgen Thorsen
Will Oldham
Regis Philbin
Roger Ebert