SFO’s “Forgotten” Vito Acconci

Vito Acconci’s “Light Beams for the Sky of a Transfer Corridor” (2000) sits in the international terminal of SFO and emerged online recently.

The description is precious:

Light is “stolen” from the light-strip in the ceiling; it is carried down the wall and across the corridor. The light is made physical: it cuts niches into the wall, it hangs overhead like arches. The light beams function both as illumination and furniture, which brings a convenience, public telephones, within your reach.

The Acconci studio piece is part of a larger collection of public art at the San Francisco airport, complete list here. And here’s a close up of the payphone component of the piece that is not clearly visible in the Flickr set.

Though this “vintage”-looking image of the Acconci piece at SFO is intriguing and makes me wonder why it was the one used on the official SFO website. Doesn’t really look like the real thing, no?

{via paintings+drawings} {photos by Richard Winchell}

[UPDATE: Richard Winchell, the photographer of the Acconci piece, suggested in his comments here that the image on the SFO website is the maquette. On closer inspection I realize he’s right. The “figures” in the image do look like plastic figurines…thanks RW]

3 responses to “SFO’s “Forgotten” Vito Acconci”

  1. Richard Winchell Avatar

    It’s nice of you to find my photo useful, but could you please add a photo credit, as per the Creative Commons license that applies to it? Thanks.

  2. Richard Winchell Avatar

    Also, that ‘vintage’ image looks like the maquette for the piece. It’s probably all they had to use for press releases before the international terminal was built.

  3. hv Avatar

    Sure thing…I usually link to ensure that people know the source.

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