Portfolio Title

Student name

Project 2- Kinetics and Interactivity
ARTIST RESEARCH

Vito Acconci

On describing his entire body of work, Vito Acconci cites the importance of language, "for better or worse, verbal thinking is probably the only kind of thinking I understand – using language is the only way I can prove to myself that I can think," and thus his work is inherently about interaction and communication with an audience. Beginning his career as a poet, Acconci was able to move into the realm of visual arts and later to architecture through the context of conceptual art (Media Art Net). Despite the changes in format and attitude, his work has always been about combining public space with private space and making sure the audience is involved (Ryan).

The performance work of his which, for most, rests in infamy is the piece entitled seedbed (1972). This performance/sculpture consisted of him lying beneath a ramp for 8 hours a day for three weeks masturbating and muttering vulgar sayings. By publicizing this very private action he was able to involve the unwitting participants most intrinsically in his processes and emotions (Saltz). He is forcing his own involvement with the viewers through the verbal shouts while calling their attention to his actions. This incarnation of his "art" doesn't leave behind any object, but is reduced down to the basest interactions between humans.

Acconci's later delve into architecture is much more physically enduring, yet it maintains his obsession with integrating humans and the environment of his work. Acconci scorns the idea of viewers in his works; instead he is, "interested in users and participants, so it made sense that my work had to move to design or architecture" (designboom). His transition between performance art and art as architecture can be observed in gallery works such as Instant House (1980). The physical action of sitting on swing to make the house form is a direct involvement of the audience, but also the symbols of the American and Russian flags engaged the viewer in a kind of symbolic conversation. This played back to his interest in the use of language as the base of any work. One of his most recently completed projects invoking a break in the barrier between public and private is a Tokyo-based branch of the store United Bamboo (2003). The windows on the side extend out into the street, allowing pedestrians to interact with the shoppers, and vice versa. This idea will be further elaborated on once projections on the outside of recordings of shoppers on the inside are set up (Ryan). Vito Acconci's notion of art and his association with it has changed and evolved as his mediums have, but he has always maintained a notion of the audience being an intrinsic structure of a work.

"Acconci, Vito: Bibliography." Media Art Net. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/artist/acconci/biography/>.

Acconci, Vito. Interview. Designboom. 21 May 2006. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/acconci.html>.

Ryan, Zoe. "Profile: Vito Acconci." Contemporary 60. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.contemporary-magazine.com/profile60.htm>.

Saltz, Jerry. "Body Heat." Village Voice 20 Apr. 2004. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.villagevoice.com/art/0417,saltz,52961,13.html>.

Images from Designboom

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

A first glance observation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's works would lead one to think they were some exercise in urban planning. In a way they are, as each one requires years of delegation and legal footwork in order to even begin to building process. However, there are certain precepts surrounding their work that moves it into the realm of art, including, but not limited to, its basis in environmentalism, the lack of sponsorship or profit involved, and its highly transitory nature (Church, Reading the Artworks). In addition to the size and location of the projects demanding audience interaction, elements involving the planning bring the projects into the public eye and have an interaction with the community even before the building begins.

One of the couple's first large-scale projects was Wrapped Coast (1968-69) which involved the wrapping of one million square feet of coastline in Australia with erosion control synthetic mesh fabric (Artfacts.net). The gesture expressed in the project is one of protecting the country's and each individual citizen's natural environment and is an essential way in which the two artists address their audience directly. A later project, Wrapped Walk Ways (1977-78) involved covering the formal walkways and jogging paths of the Jacob L. Loose Memorial Park in Kansas City with more than 135,000 square feet of golden nylon. The project was only "on display" for a few short weeks, but in this time visitors were forced to engage with and experience the artwork as they had to run across it (Wrapped Walk Ways). The pair of artists is not attempting to make magnificent pictures that are to be viewed from an outside perspective, but work on changing the very landscape people engage with on a daily basis. This is a type of interactive art that cannot be escaped or ignored in the time of its duration.

Their most recently completed instillation, entitled The Gates (1979-2005), enclosed Central Park with 7,503 fabric "gates". It took 24 years for Christo and Jeanne-Claude to secure the contract allowing them to set up the structures, and during this time the entirety of New York City, as well as most of America, became aware of their intentions as well as the details and motives of the project (Church, The Gates). The public dialogue surrounding permission for each project is a unique and essential item to how the two interact with their audience through their art, even if it's just an idea of an artwork. In a similar way to how Acconci's architecture must necessarily be interacted with, Christo and Jeanne-Claude build up such a production around their work that those following the news coverage, the workers engaged in building the project, city officials, and most importantly the community the project is located in all become elements of the works themselves – they would not exist if other people were not participating in these roles.

"Christo & Jeanne-Claude." Artfacts.Net. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/659>.

Church, Jok. "Reading the Artworks." Christo and Jeanne Claude. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://christojeanneclaude.net/howT.shtml>.

Church, Jok. "The Gates." Christo and Jeanne-Claude. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml>.

"Wrapped Walk Ways." Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the Vogel Collection. 2008. National Gallery of Art. 17 Feb. 2008 <http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2002/christo/walkway.shtm>.

Images from Christo and Jeanne-Claude and NGA