response 4: Vito Acconci

One word to describe Vito Acconci after watching both "Theme Song" and "Undertone": creepy. I read his essay first, not thinking that the videos were actually all that sexual, then after watching the videos, it was both visually and audially uncomfortable. "Theme Song" was more uncomfortable than "Undertone" though. It was more intimate and personal. It was the visual aspect of him being so close to the camera so that when the viewer would watch it, we would be face-to-face with Acconci, that made it so much more personal. His face dissolved into view then he started to say that he didn't know who was there watching or if the person watching wanted to come inside and lay with him because he was "all alone." He reminded me of a dirty old man who would creep on the internet with a web-cam. I thought it was funny that I reacted in this way because I knew in the back of my mind that it was just art and that it was not at all real like it could potentially happen with technology now. But what I also found myself doing during his constant persuasion was reacting to him, not out loud but inside my head. I was responding back to him saying that he was crazy and that, "I would never come in there, you idiot. All I see is you. How do I know there isn't someone else there in the room that I cannot view fully? I can't even get into the screen and come inside there in the first place." Even though I knew that his intentions were to experiment with "I" and "you" I still fell into the trap he wanted the viewer to fall into. He even mentioned that the viewer may be wary of him and consider him a liar. But he was still persistent in seducing the viewer after that with the soft, whispers toward the camera, like he wanted the uneasiness to be on purpose. "Undertone" was not as seductive but still uncomfortable.

"Undertone" had more of a distance (the table) between the viewer and Acconci that made it less personal. Yet, the constant changing of him closing his eyes and looking down versus him opening his eyes and looking at the viewer connected the viewer to him still. At times I would feel as if I was an outsider watching something that I was not supposed to be watching. Then at other times I would feel like he wanted me there at the end of the table to listen to him talk to himself whenever he would look up from taking a break from masturbating. It was like I was moving in and out of the screen. What I also noticed visually was that when he would be looking down his hands would be underneath the table, and when he would be loking up his hands would be on top of the table. It was as if he was trying to show the viewer that when he paid attention to him or her, he would not be masturbating in his or her presence. He wanted to show he was clean and innocent by showing his hands. This piece was actually more interesting to me than "Theme Song" because of the detailed choreography of it. "Theme Song seemed to be more real and unrehearsed, whereas "Undertone" seemed to be thought up of beforehand.