#kathy dillon

[garadinervi]

Vito Acconci: Photoworks, Videos et Films Super 8 — 1969-1972, (cassette, box set), Sous-sol, 1988 [midcenturyclassical]

Exhibition: Vito Acconci. Travaux photos, vidéos, films super 8 — 1969-1972, Sous-sol, École superieure d'art visuel, Département de l'instruction publique, Genève, November 16 – December 16, 1988, Conceived and realised by the students at Sous-sol (Edgar Acevedo, Francis Baudevin, Luc Berthet, Claude Cortinovis, Mauro Fanetti, Catherine Pier Favre, Nicole Ferrero, Anne Frei, Francesca Gabbiani, Benedicto Garcia, Catherine Grangier, Catherine Higginson, Barbara Rose, Muriel Rosset, Nathalie Tison, Ellen Versluis, Nathalie Wetzel)

Photography: Bill Beckley, Kathy Dillon, Elisabeth Jackson, Richards Jarden, Georg Rehsteiner, Ealan Wingate Graphic Design: Muriel Rosset

[thinkingimages]

Remote Control

Vito Acconci

1971, 62:30 min, b&w, sound, Two Channels

The two-channel piece Remote Control is an exercise in manipulation and control between artist and subject, male and female. On separate channels, the viewer sees Acconci and Kathy Dillon sitting alone in wooden boxes in different rooms, each facing a static camera. Although they can only see and hear each other on separate monitors, they attempt to interact and respond to one another directly, as if their communication were unmediated. Through language and gesture, Acconci tries to manipulate Dillon's actions from his box, as though by remote control. He instructs her to tie herself up with rope, gesturing as though he were actually in her presence, cajoling her to perform his commands, convincing himself that he is in control: "I'm bringing the rope over your knees... I'm lifting your legs gently." The isolation and displacement of the couple, and the viewer's voyeuristic position, serve to heighten the undercurrent of dominance and submission. Dillon, who at first silently complies with Acconci's commands, eventually reacts to his manipulation with an assertion of her own will.

With: Vito Acconci, Kathy Dillon.

Additional Performance Art Research Link: http://pointopoint.blogg.org/art-c26455830/6?noajax&mobile=0