Pull

Pull

Vito Acconci 
1971, 32:37 min, b&w, sound

Description

In this documentation of a performance at New York University, an overhead camera circles above Acconci and Kathy Dillon. In a dark auditorium, Acconci walks in a circle around Dillon, while she moves in the center. Staring at each other, they try to maintain eye contact while following the other's changes in direction and speed. Energy and control shifts back and forth between them as they try to exert a "pull" on each other. The dynamic becomes increasingly charged and aggressive as Acconci circles menacingly. Acconci has stated, "I might be trying to crowd her, drive her to a standstill—she might be trying to draw me into her, stop me from circling...I might be trying to remain an observer, detached, on the outside."

With: Vito Acconci, Kathy Dillon.