Vito Acconci: Under-History Lessons

The Collections Study Space features Under-History Lessons (1976), an early conceptual audio work by the influential performance, video, and installation artist Vito Acconci. The work is a series of short lessons in which the artist portrays both the teacher and the students. From Lesson 1: Let's Believe We're in This Together to the final Lesson 12: Let's be Oppressed, Acconci riffs on the ideological underpinnings of American education and society. Previously exhibited at the UAM in 2020, the work is a recent addition to the Collections Study Space library along with four other Acconci sound pieces.

The Collections Study Space is open Tuesday and Thursday 11am – 2pm.

The Spring 2025 exhibitions are supported by the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, The University at Albany Foundation, the Ann C. Mataraso Fund, the Robin Kanson Lewis ’70 Exhibition Endowment Fund, the University Auxiliary Services at Albany, and the Jack and Gertrude Horan Memorial Fund for Student Outreach.