Performance Tapes no. 4 Two by Vito Acconci
| Date start | 05.25.16 |
| Date end | 05.28.16 |
| Start Time | 12am |
| Admission | Free |
| Event artist | |
| Presented by |
Pryings, 1971, b&w video, 17 minutes Home Movies, 1973, b&w video, 32 minutes
For this iteration of Performance Tapes, art historian Kate Green will present two videos by Vito Acconci. PRYINGS features footage from a live performance of the same name that took place in a New York University auditorium. While Acconci struggled with co-performer Kathy Dillon, wordlessly trying to pry open her closed eyes, poet Bernadette Mayer encircled the pair with a video camera that fed footage to a television monitor situated center stage. Seated spectators pivoted between watching the struggle live and through the close-up footage playing on the monitor.
Acconci made HOME MOVIES when he was invited to use the just-opened facilities at Art/Tapes/22 in Florence, Italy. In the video, Acconci appears to be giving an “artist talk” of sorts, yet no audience is present in the darkened space he occupies. A slide show of the artist’s past work plays behind him as he alternately speaks about it, talks directly to the viewers, and addresses someone off-stage about what was happening in his personal life as his art work shifted.
Both videos were selected and will be introduced by Kate Green, who worked closely with Acconci on her just-completed dissertation, “Encountering Vito Acconci: Performing Conceptual Art circa 1970.” A discussion with Kate will follow the screening.
Complimentary Beverages provided by Austin Beer Works
