Take Off

"I made Take Off in my studio apartment on Myra Avenue during my second year living in Los Angeles. As a member of the Feminist Studio Workshop, I was writing an essay at the time comparing male artists’ representations of their sexuality with female artists’. Vito Acconci was my model for a male perspective. I had been captivated by his videotapes; particularly Undertone, where he was supposed to be masturbating while seated at a table. The videotape was my ultimate response and commentary on Acconci as well as an expression of my own sexuality."

—Susan Mogul

"In a very literal way, Mogul takes to task the whole notion of the male artist’s body as a text of creativity which can be read through its activities and gestures. With a good deal of ironic humor, she transforms the 'girl' into a woman and an artist, who positions herself not under the table (as in Acconci’s Undertone) but directly across from the viewer; alternately discussing the 'history' of her vibrator and occasionally using it."

—Joseph Di Mattia

This title is also available on I Say I Am: Program 2.