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Lot Essay
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Catholic schools, Acconci attended Holy Cross in Worcester and received his master’s degree from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of lowa. His career as a poet came to be overshadowed by his need for a more explicit form of communication. In the early performance pieces of the 1960s, he literally incorporated himself into the work, whether by biting his own flesh or burning his chest hairs or leaping off a chair. The audience's reaction was here an essential element of the performance. For later works such as the Project for Pier 17 (1971), he stayed at the end of the deserted Pier 17 warehouse every night for a month. People were encouraged to go there between 1 and 2 a.m. to listen to him tell a secret, giving them something ‘‘on’’ him and bringing them directly into his space.
From this point on, Acconci he developed more technically advanced works that employed tapes of his voice and often video film. He thus removed himself from the viewer's space while retaining clear control, allowing the viewer to react without inhibitions. I n such situations we are one step removed from an actual confrontation, although as viewers we are still an essential part of the work.
In the late ‘70s Acconci's style underwent another change. His pieces from this time were very sophisticated, finished sculptural installations for which, again, audience participation was crucial. One such work is Instant House (1978), consisting of four interior house walls — on which the image of the American flag is painted — lying flat on the floor. At the center hangs a child’s swing, which, when sat upon, raises the four walls to enclose the swing and to expose the exterior wall, on which the Soviet flag is painted.
The foregoing piece is related in imagery to the photoetching Three Flags for One Space and Six Regions. It consists of three overlap- ping flags printed on six sheets; at the lowest layer is the Russian standard with only the hammer and sickle barely perceptible through the overlapping of the Chinese and the American. The translucent mesh of the rippled fabric gives a literal presence to the actual- size, photoetched flags printed from flag- shaped plates. The only barrier Acconci erects here between spectator and illusion is his division of the image into six Separately framed pieces of equal size that fit together to form the whole, creating a grid like effect.
Nancy Green, The Modern Art of the Print: Selections from the Collection of Lois and Michael Torf, p.102
From this point on, Acconci he developed more technically advanced works that employed tapes of his voice and often video film. He thus removed himself from the viewer's space while retaining clear control, allowing the viewer to react without inhibitions. I n such situations we are one step removed from an actual confrontation, although as viewers we are still an essential part of the work.
In the late ‘70s Acconci's style underwent another change. His pieces from this time were very sophisticated, finished sculptural installations for which, again, audience participation was crucial. One such work is Instant House (1978), consisting of four interior house walls — on which the image of the American flag is painted — lying flat on the floor. At the center hangs a child’s swing, which, when sat upon, raises the four walls to enclose the swing and to expose the exterior wall, on which the Soviet flag is painted.
The foregoing piece is related in imagery to the photoetching Three Flags for One Space and Six Regions. It consists of three overlap- ping flags printed on six sheets; at the lowest layer is the Russian standard with only the hammer and sickle barely perceptible through the overlapping of the Chinese and the American. The translucent mesh of the rippled fabric gives a literal presence to the actual- size, photoetched flags printed from flag- shaped plates. The only barrier Acconci erects here between spectator and illusion is his division of the image into six Separately framed pieces of equal size that fit together to form the whole, creating a grid like effect.
Nancy Green, The Modern Art of the Print: Selections from the Collection of Lois and Michael Torf, p.102