VITO ACCONCI

[This project of Acconci and his studio, entitled "Video Room / Reception Desk for Hallwalls," commissioned on the occasion of Hallwalls' 20th anniversary in 1995, was, like many architectural projects conceived and designed by Acconci, never built. Acconci did give this lecture at the auditorium of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery—also as a special Hallwalls 20th-anniversary event—but only drawings, plans, and a model were exhibited at Hallwalls. The "unbuilt" project is documented as such and described in detail on page 480 of the 512-page book "vito hannibal acconci studio," published on the occasion of the major retrospective exhibition of the same title co-organized by Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes (2004) and Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2005). Acconci's early installation at Hallwalls ("Wallflower Halls," October 1975) is documented in the same book on pages 299 and 453.

Staff sought funding to construct Acconci's 1995 project from the Capital Aid Program of NYSCA, but the panel deemed it too impractical for its intended functions. That program did, however, fund a more functional reception desk/refreshment stand (bar) the following year, designed and constructed by David Grundy. E.C. 03/08/2010]