The exploded whale: Vito Acconci in the design market

This paper examines Acconci Studio's proposed redesign of the Ontario Science Center in Canada in 2004, based on the concept of an exploded whale's body. Acconci Studio is a design and architectural practice in Brooklyn, New York started by the notorious and controversial 1960s conceptual artist Vito Acconci. In his wideranging practice, Acconci has continuously reacted against the commercialisation of art and the reframing of subversive practices by the art market. As I argue, this critical practice continues in the design work of Acconci Studio, but repositioned in the context of the commercial design market. This paper looks at the ways in which the Ontario Science Center proposal challenges the conventions of commercial architecture by infusing the body into its spaces and posing critical questions within the context of design.