◇ YouTube - vito acconci theme song 1973
The dynamic tension between 'I and you,' artist and viewer, is perhaps most brilliantly realised in 'Theme Song', a pivotal work. Here he uses the close-up to construct a charged confrontation with the viewer. Acconci is 'face to face,' his head looming onto the screen. With a disquieting intimacy, he shifts between vulnerability and manipulation, candour and seduction, in a pop song driven 'come-on' to the viewer. While Acconci's monologues often refer specifically to women, 'Theme Song' is effective precisely because the 'you' here is un-gendered, non-specific, universal: 'You could be anybody out there.' Describing a relationship of trust and deception, Acconci ultimately acknowledges that the notion of being 'face to face' is, after all, a rather pathetic illusion: 'I can feel your body right next to me...I know I'm only kidding myself...You're not here'
（part 1）http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAf6zKRb1wI
（part 2）http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MxhNdyADEU
◇ Film & Video: Vito Acconci - Theme Song - U B U W E B
http://www.ubu.com/film/acconci_theme.html
◇ Fresh Acconci, Mike Kelley; Paul McCarthy - Electronic Arts Intermix
Artists McCarthy and Kelley re-stage classic 1970s performance pieces by Vito Acconci, with a decidedly ironic Southern California sensibility. States McCarthy: "[The piece] is a reference to art now, to a resurgence of the 1970s and an interest in youth in the art world. There are also references to Hollywood 8 movies and soft porn made in the Hollywood hills... In Fresh Acconci, the New York art scene is sandwiched with Hollywood. Two kinds of aesthetics overlap. The tape itself crosses lines of what is politically correct, exploitation and softening or obscuring the meaning."
http://www.eai.org/title.htm?id=1179
◇ YouTube - Paul McCarthy talks about Imitating Hollywood
With the popularity of the Paul McCarthy videos I put up, I decided to put this up to satisfy all the McCarthy admirers. This is a documentary made circa 2000, in which Paul talks about different videos he's done, and the way his work has transformed over time. The documentary shows excerpts from many of his videos, and it's the first interview I've seen of him.
In the final segment, he discusses his more recent works. Such as in the videos Fresh Acconci (1995) and Saloon (1996), he tries to imitate the visual style seen in Hollywood films by using higher production values. There's also an excerpt of Experimental Dancer Edit #1 during the credits.
