A few days prior to the opening of Vito Acconci’s early career retrospective at MoMA PS1, Vito Acconci: Where Are We Now (Who Are We Anyway?), the video artist and his wife, Maria, sat down with PS1’s director, Klaus Biesenbach, to talk a bit about the old days. Parts of that conversation, along with snippets of behind-the-scenes footage, have since been edited into a short film directed by Academy Award nominee Zachary Heinzerling. The result is a 12-minute film packed full of insight.
Biesenbach told us in a statement:
I invited Vito Acconci to create an exhibition on the occasion of MoMA PS1’s 40th anniversary, as the artist that best represents and galvanizes the groundbreaking artistic energy of New York in the 1960s and 70s leading up to 1976, the year we opened. His work is groundbreaking, challenging, and experimental, like this institution was at the time of its founding, and still is 40 years later. Maria and Vito Acconci worked very closely with us to develop the exhibition architecture as a new work by Acconci Studio. This film provides a window into their three-and-a-half month residency at MoMA PS1 while we created the exhibition.
The exhibition closes this Sunday, the last day of the NY Art Book Fair. For those who haven’t been and still require a bit of convincing, prepare to be convinced by the video below.