Vito Acconci

Seedbed, Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 1972 Visitors walked up a ramp built across the gallery and found nothing to look at, only Acconci's voice through a loudspeaker. He was hidden underneath, masturbating and describing his fantasies about the people walking above him. Seedbed is on this list because it reversed the gallery's sightlines: the artist could hear the audience but they could not see him, and every visitor's presence fed the work whether they liked it or not. It is a frank, uncomfortable piece, and its legacy is that question of consent and complicity. With so little to see, it is known through photographs of the empty ramp, a short silent Super 8 recording and Acconci's published notes.