Vito Acconci
" Elevating experience "
The European, Grande-Bretagne, 20 Septembre 1991
BREASTS ARE getting bigger in every way. Average women have gone up one bra
size to 34c - and bras, bustiers and nip-waisted corsets have never been bigger
business. But the ultimate stamp of respectability has come now that bras have
been elevated to an art form.
While the small-scale art bra first took off with Jean-Paul Gaultier's bustiers
for Madonna, it has reached its apotheosis in the work of the Italian-American
artist Vito Acconci. His latest show, in Grenoble, gives Europeans their first
chance to enjoy his giant adjustable Wall Bra - one of a series which caused
a furore in the US earlier this year.
The Grenoble Wall Bra is so massive you can walk inside it. Each cup forms a
seat in which the spectator can lounge and choose from a variety of entertainments
- a tape deck playing rock and roll; a CD-player with selections from Monteverdi;
a radio; a TV set tuned to soap.
To keep the Wall Bra firmly aloft, Acconci has had to resort to architecture
on a grand scale. The cups are constructed from canvas and steel-reinforced
plaster, and are kept in place by cables with industrial springs and trimmed
with bolts and bars.
Acconci agrees that his bra is in some ways inspired by the Gaultier/Madonna
culture, but says it mainly occurred to him as an interesting way to fill a
space.
" I have a difficult time dealing with the walls, " he says "
Most of my stuff goes on the floor. In a public space you become a child, coddled
by this bra. On the other hand it might be overpowering. " He is pleased
with women's reactions to his work. " I hope it's not an objectification
of women. " Acconci is not alone in his celebration of the bra. In Milan,
for instance, the fashion designer Samuele Mazza set up a sensational exhibition
called Bras of the Century. This autumn he plans to tour Europe with selected
highlights from his 1,500 - strong bra collection, including historical corsets
and models dedicated to Madonna and Twin Peaks. Mazza's designs form the basis
for a book on other uses for a bra. He turns them into clocks, taps, doorbells
- even plumbers' tools.