Vito Acconci Movies

The two-channel piece Remote Control is an exercise in manipulation and control between artist and subject, male and female. On separate channels,...

"In another exploration of nonverbal communication, the camera moves back and forth, each time catching one of Acconci's hands in an expressive...

In Theme Song, Acconci uses video as close-up to establish a perversely intimate relation with the viewer, creating a personal space in which to talk...

Contacts is one of a series of tapes in which Acconci creates a controlled performance situation to explore the limits of a private space. Applying...

A five minute super-8mm short from Vito Acconci

"Acconci spars with his close-up image in a mirror. He then breaks the mirror, destroying his image." - Electronic Arts Intermix

"In this now infamous tape, exemplary of his early transgressive performance style, Acconci sits and relates a masturbatory fantasy about a girl...

A documentation of a live performance at New York University, Pryings is a graphic exploration of the physical and psychological dynamics of...

The back of Acconci's head is seen in tight close-up. He hums to himself, first lyrically, then aggressively, violently. Suddenly he wheels around to...

A super-8mm short by Vito Acconci

In Conversions II, the second in a trilogy of films interrogating the rigidity of gender binarism, the artist attempts to feminize his unquestionably...

"In Scene Steal, Acconci, fully clothed, tries to shield a nude woman from the camera. In Container, he wraps his nude body around a cat as if to...

A three and a half minute Super-8mm piece on concentration/contemplation by Vito Acconci.

Acconci imitates the sounds of war, gunfire and explosion; he thrusts his face, stomach or penis onto the screen. His childlike battle sounds are...

"In one of his earliest films, Acconci performs a series of actions — running in a circle, jumping, pushing another man — in which the...

"Visions of a Disappearance is a newly restored performance tape that was recorded in Naples, Italy, in 1973. Crouched in a corner, hemmed in by the...

This early performance tape is an example of what Acconci has termed his "quasi-ESP exercises," in which he explores mental concentration and...

"Acconci caresses his torso, then crushes cockroaches into his stomach and rubs them into his skin." - Electronic Arts Intermix

Acconci oftens performs controlled actions as if he had entered into a contractual agreement to test his physical limitations. In Grass/Mouth,...

A super-8mm document (blown up to 16mm) of Acconci's performance of the same name where he laid flat on his stomach blindfolded on a wood platform in...