Response 5: Pryings

Pryings, performed by Vito Acconci and Kathy Dillon, depicts a violent struggle between two people. One, Acconci, tries desperately to open Dillon’s eyes to make her see. Dillon herself resists Acconci’s attempts by squeezing her eyes shut, covering her eyes, and looking away. When Acconci does manage to force his victim’s eyelids open, Dillon quickly hides her irises, leaving her blank white eyes that don’t see anything. This 21 minute struggle between the two performers is not a very comfortable piece to watch. Acconci tries so hard to open Dillon’s eyes. He is physically wrestling with the struggling Dillon, going against her will to put her in a position where she has to open her eyes. Although the viewer knows it is a performance, this overpowering dominance of one person over another makes the entire scene feel wrong.

Though the visual image of the two figures thrashing around violently was discomforting, the audio portion of the video really made the struggle dynamic. The viewer could hear Acconci and Dillon in a constant state of movement as Acconci tried to open Dillon’s eyes. As the video continues to play, Acconci’s breath gets louder and more ragged as his efforts are met with resistance. The viewer is forced to acknowledge that Acconci is trying his hardest to achieve his goal, and Dillon really is fighting to keep her eyes shut. This video is not just a performance. It is a real struggle between two human beings. It is the audio element of the video that really sends the message.

But I found the idea behind Acconci’s and Dillon’s performance particularly interesting. The truth about the idiom of “opening someone’s eyes” is portrayed in this video. Although Acconci tries his best to open Dillon’s eyes to get her to “see,” he ultimately fails because Dillon resists him. This holds true in real life. Someone could try their hardest to fight, throw statistics, and argue with you, but if you’ve made up your mind, then nothing they say could convince you of otherwise. As told in Aesop’s fable of the competition between the sun and the wind, force is not the way to go.