Twelve Pictures
After the house lights went down, Acconci crossed a darkened stage (from right to left) over the course of three minutes and periodically took flash photographs; the members of the audience did not realize that their jaded, uncomfortable, and giddy responses to his invisible transit were the substance of the work. Like contemporaries Dan Graham and Chris Burden, Acconci applied the systems and tasklike processes of Minimalism to real-time, body-oriented performances that blurred the lines between private and public, artist and audience. The artist Robert Smithson can be seen seated in the second row on the aisle.
Artwork Details
- Title: Twelve Pictures
- Artist: Vito Acconci (American, Bronx, New York 1940–2017 New York)
- Date: 1969
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 11.1 x 12.1cm (4 3/8 x 4 3/4in.)
Frame: 22.9 × 184.2 cm (9 × 72 1/2 in.) - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1993
- Object Number: 1993.375
- Rights and Reproduction: © Vito Acconci
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.