Vito Acconci: An Interview

A 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 from 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.

In this interview, Vito Acconci sketches out and analyzes his artistic output, ranging from early poetic work through to his architecture at the time of the interview, pulling attention away from sensationalist readings and back to his basic concerns and the productive critical role of art. Acconci gives a critical reading of the personal and public contexts his work fed on and contributed to from New York in the 1960s onward. Taking the same approach he uses in art-making, Acconci pulls apart these historical moments (in his work, the world, and the art world) to crystallize his perceptions of what had real life and use, and what was being left out. Major works from many phases of his production are presented in this discussion (e.g. Following Piece, Seedbed, Claim, Reception Room, Instant House), feeding an ongoing meditation on the different forms of expressiveness of methods such as language, the voice, concentration, live performance, recording, installation, etc. Being an artist perpetually caught up in a changing world (and trying to change it), he adds nuance to and tracks variations in his approaches to the role of art, power, the body, space, private/public relationships, participation, and analytic experience, among other related concerns. Acconci also evaluates ways of thinking about art that featured largely in the post-'68 zeitgeist such as Conceptualism, Judson Dance, Process, etc. and how they entered his practice.

Interview by Kate Horsfield.

A historical interview originally recorded in 1983 and re-edited in 2004.