Acconci's Theme Song and Undertone

After watching these two movies, I have a totally different perception or other side of Vito Acconci. I loved him when I was reading his essay, “Television, Furniture, Sculpture: A Room with and American View” because his thoughts were so real and practical. He made me realize everything that I already knew about television and eloquently explained other concepts and comparisons that opened my mind to other perspectives that involved the impact of television. However, these two movies presented another side of Acconci that I did not really expect—a sexual side. He is rather audacious in creating these videos because this is usually what is not expected of a popular figure. Both Theme Song and Undertone exhibited similar themes and characteristics: Vito executing a monologue (although from a different angle, it can also be a dialogue because he is carrying a conversation with the viewer, who is just not speaking), one piece of furniture presented in the frame, and the theme of sex and the tension that can accompany it. Each video presents its own situation involving sex where Theme Song is presenting the beginning of a sexual attraction that leads to seduction, while Undertone revolves around his recollection of a fantasy about a woman that has already touched him in certain ways.
Theme Song captures Acconci’s attempts at seducing the viewer. In the video, he incorporates props, such as cigarettes he continuously smokes and music he constantly changes. He reminds me of a little kid that is too close to the television because of his body language, in which he keeps rolling around the floor and leaning on his arms. Acconci also sounds a little crazy because he is persistent in his attempts to seduce the viewer versus a real situation in which a man usually retracts himself if he is not getting a response. The intermittent phases in which he tries to sing with the music also presented me with this notion that maybe he was psychotic because his singing was either interrupting or enhancing his ability to hit on a nonexistent being (as if he was incorporating some kind of serenade). He tries to personify this nonexistence by presenting the screen with his idea of “trust” and “freedom” when this person and he are united. This video also reminded me of a potential online video camera chat that two individuals could have, only Acconci would be one side of the story.
Undertone presents another side of the sexual encounter, in which Acconci is recapping his confrontation with this woman who touched him. This video also gave me the impression he was psychotic because he was placed in a bland room with a table (which kind of exhibits a 3-D effect) in front of him. As he is rambling on the other side of the table, the camera seems to be set across from him as if it was an interview. It is also interesting to note that whenever he places his hands on the table, they are often folded, which conveys the impression that he is trying to do business with someone—the viewer. Every time his hands are on the table, he speaks to the viewers as if he is dependent on them for his sanity and health because he needs them to save him from his thoughts and catch him when he falls off the table. Another detail that captured my attention was the fact that he keeps saying a woman is underneath the table. Why is it that the woman needs to be underneath the table to touch him? Also, his attempts at trying to forget about this woman and what she has done makes it seem as if she did a bad thing. Whether or not he meant to belittle the role of a woman, this presentation of the woman makes me wonder about Acconci’s views on women in general because he seduces them in Theme Song and hides a woman under the table in Undertone.