Photomatic Enunciation Piece ("Anything Goes")

1969

Not on view

As Acconci's art shifted from poetry to body-oriented performance in the late 1960s, he often incorporated photography as a means of returning his art to the page and of creating something that would last beyond the moment. This work, dubbed a "photomatic enunciation piece," is a photo-booth strip showing five random flashes of the automatic camera as the artist sang Cole Porter's 1934 song "Anything Goes" with exaggerated clarity. Merging performance, chance occurrence, conceptual art, and an assertively anti-art process, Acconci's work is quintessentially of the 1960s.

Artwork Details

Title: Photomatic Enunciation Piece ("Anything Goes")
Artist: Vito Acconci (American, Bronx, New York 1940–2017 New York)
Date: 1969
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 25.1 x 3.8 cm. (9 7/8 x 1 1/2 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1994
Object Number: 1994.186.2
Rights and Reproduction: © Vito Acconci
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Vito Acconci

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Throw

Vito Acconci

1969

Toe-Touch, Vito Acconci American, Gelatin silver print — Toe-Touch
Vito Acconci
1969

Following Piece, Vito Acconci American, Gelatin silver print — Following Piece
Vito Acconci
1969

A Performance Situation Using Walking, Running, Vito Acconci American, Gelatin silver prints — A Performance Situation Using Walking, Running
Vito Acconci
1969

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.