American artist Vito Acconci has died aged 77, Art News reports. He is best known for his Situationist video and performance work for which he often used his own body as a subject. In the 1980s he began to focus on sculptures and permanent installations, some of which caused controversy – including Way Station I (Study Chamber) (1983), which was installed at Middlebury College, Vermont, and was eventually burned down in 1985 by an unidentified group. During his career, Acconci also designed houses and landscapes as well as furniture, seeking to create spaces that incorporated the public and private – in 1992 he collaborated with architect Steven Holl in redesigning the façade of Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York.
Acconci taught at several universities including California Institute of the Arts, Cooper Union, Yale, Parsons School of Design among others. His last educational role was as a professor at Brooklyn College and as an associate adjunct professor at the Pratt Institute in the Graduate Architecture and Urban Design Department.
28 April 2017
