UNDERTONE

UNDERTONE

sexuality

body art

performance

"One of Acconci's most compelling works, Undertone is a confrontational attempt to engage the viewer in an intimate, ultimately perverse relation with the artist. Acconci sits at the end of a long table, arms hidden underneath, facing the camera/viewer. Looking down, he begins a hypnotic monologue as he tries to convince himself that there is a woman under the table rubbing his thighs, or, alternately, that it is only himself rubbing his thighs. 'I want to believe there's no one here under the table ... I want to believe there's a girl here.' Then, in a direct address, he implicates the viewer in this fantasy: 'I need you to keep your place there at the head of the table. I need to know I can count on you...' Coercively positioning the viewer as both voyeur and accomplice, Acconci defines himself through the spectator as psychological other: 'I need you to screen out my lies, filter out the lies from the real point of view.' " (-Electronic Arts Intermix website)

ACCONCI, Vito

Electronic Arts Intermix

Electronic Arts Intermix

1973

Vito Acconci

VHS

English

Artist Video (V)

A33973a

34 min.