Artist who masturbated in public gallery for eight hours a day for three weeks explains the reason behind performance
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Tate
An American artist's controversial 1972 performance piece still boggles the mind of many but he previously revealed the reason behind it.
Art isn’t just nice sculptures and pretty pictures and many artists have proven this over the decades, some opting to express themselves through performances instead.
But with that said, some pieces still raise quite a lot of eyebrows and that is especially true in the work of performance artist Vito Acconci.
Back in 1972, the New York native gave a performance called 'Seedbed' and it was far from what you would expect...
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It saw him masturbate at the Sonnabend Gallery in NYC over the course of three weeks.
Acconci hid beneath a ramp at the gallery as he masturbated while speakers projected his voice talking about his fantasies of people walking above.
But what did the artist actually hope to achieve, show or have in mind as his goal for this performance?
Acconici has previously written both a description and an explanation of the simplicity of 'Seedbed'.
According to a report by the Artforum, he wrote: “The goal of my activity is the production of seed - the scattering of seed throughout the underground area. (My aim is to concentrate on my goal, to be totally enclosed within my goal).
“The means to this goal is private sexual activity. (My attempt is to maintain the activity throughout the day, so that a maximum of seed is produced; my aim is to have constant contact with my body so that a maximum of seed is produced; my aim is to have constant contact with my body so that an effect from my body is carried outside).
“My aids are the visitors to the gallery - in my seclusion, I can have private images of them, talk to myself about them: my fantasies about them can excite me, enthuse me to sustain - to resume - my private sexual activity. (The seed 'planted' on the floor, then, is a joint result of my performance and theirs).”
US art critic Jerry Saltz praised the performance in his review of the rather odd piece of art.
He said: “Not only does the architectural intervention presage much of his subsequent work, but all of Acconci's fixations converge in this, the spiritual sphincter of his art. In 'Seedbed', Acconci is the producer and the receiver of the work's pleasure.
“He is simultaneously public and private, making marks yet leaving little behind, and demonstrating ultra-awareness of his viewer while being in a semi-trance state.”
It is easy to see how this performance wouldn’t exactly resonate with the everyday person, but it has been received very well in the artistic world and even resulted in emulation, most notably from Serbian conceptual artist Marina Abramović.