With roots in the performance art and body art of the 1970s, Marton's early works are visceral, psychological confrontations with the viewer. Guitar Piece is a darkly comical, angry work, in which Marton hits a guitar against his head in a rhythmic, yelling "Music!" in an accelerating fury until the guitar splinters into pieces. Tapes is a harrowing, often horrifying collection of performances in which Marton's personal and collective fears unravel on the screen. In My Father, Marton transposes his image onto an old photograph of a crowd of soldiers in uniform. The shadowy imprint of his face mouths the words, "My father died! No solution! And it's not the last time." The camera then pulls out to reveal a mass of anonymous, faceless men. Suicide begins with Marton addressing the camera directly, lulling the viewer into a false sense of security. As he continues his stream-of-consciousness monologue, he gradually reveals that he has contemplated suicide. A single rivulet of blood runs upward over his face, until finally he is awash in crimson red. Hope You — Croak Before Me is a confrontational exercise in which Marton intercuts images of his face expressing extreme psychological states. Telepathos resulted from an artists' satellite project that linked Los Angeles, Iowa City, and New York. Working in collaboration with video artists Shalom Gorewitz and Nancy Buchanan, Marton attempts to telepathically convey a color to the others, in an ironic confluence of performance and political commentary.

Telepathos: With: Shalom Gorewitz, Nancy Buchanan, Pier Marton.