Since the late 1970s, American artist Vitto Acconci has designed architectural and installation works for public spaces, however he was originally a poet of the New York school before moving towards performance, sound, and video work by the end of the 1960’s.
Acconci changed direction in order to “define his body in space, his early performances—including Claim (1971) and Seedbed (1972)—were extremely controversial, transgressing assumed boundaries between public and private space, and between audience and performer.
Positioning his own body as both the subject and object of the work, Acconci’s used early video recordings to record actions taking advantage of the self-reflective potential of the media. Consistently exploring the dynamics of intimacy, trust, and power, the focus of Acconci’s projects gradually moved from his physical body (Conversions, 1971) toward the psychology of interpersonal transactions (Pryings, 1971), and later, to the cultural and political implications of the performative space he set up for the camera (The Red Tapes, 1976).
contemporaryartetc.com 
