Red Tape questions

- What are the different voices that Acconci uses when speaking in the work and to what means? What characters does he embody/perform?

For me it was difficult to follow what he was doing at the begging. He switched from telling a narrative to repeating action words and using different variations/layers of his voice in terms of volume and softness. The characters he embodies in this performance are the "revolutionary" "prisoner" and "artist". Since I watched this while thinking of how I would accomplish my project, I took the performance as a means of working through ideas, free thought and inspiration.


- Locate instances of nationalism as well as lone individuality in the work. What do references to nationalism “do” or emphasize with respect to our understanding of the story.

There were many instances of nationalism in the piece ranging from an American flag backdrop, country side images, and the mention of JFK death. Many of these moments induced a state changes in my mind as I watched. The beautiful landscapes that seemed to stretch forever turned flat once he
made the viewer aware that they were just pages in a book. The American flag is juxtaposed by having the artist narrate the story with his head turned away from the viewer and facing/confronting the flag. Also the tale of what he would do to JFK's head after he was assassinated was truly uncomfortable to hear and made clear of what nation this was directed to.


- How do the formal strategies (the look and how different elements are put together) of video, still photos, painting, film, and performance contribute to the content of the work? Provide specific examples.

All of the elements seemed to culminate into a presentation of sorts. Still photos took up the entire frame. Transitions were done manually on the spot, emphasizing that this was done in one session. Also because the piece felt so "hands on" it gave it an air of being home made or as if it were done outside of normal societal means. Thoughts of how extreme communities create video propaganda and messages came to mind. As if the piece was underground.


- How do you ultimately understand the narrative or story of this work? Please describe.

The narrative was the most difficult part to grasp. Granted I only watched it once but I thought of sections of the performance being too random to follow anyway. I understood it as I was meant to go into a free thought mode. When parts of the performance became repetitive or had long shots of a black screen I began to drift into a day dream like state. Strange words or a scene transition would bring me back into the piece and I would focus until it fell into repetition again.