Recentering (2026) is a video that responds to Vito Acconci's Centers (1971), a formative work of video art in which the artist attempts to hold his pointer finger directly in the center of the screen. In the manner of broadcast television, Acconci effectively hails the viewer with a gestural "hey, you!" while drawing attention to the use of television to direct the eyes and orient the body. My Recentering takes Acconci's insight to its logical extreme. It removes the artist's finger entirely, leaving only an index of the viewer's gaze.

To make this piece, I used eye tracking software in a university media research lab to document the movement of my eyes while watching Acconci's video over YouTube. Key to Recentering is the widespread techno-cultural shift from broadcast television to online viewing and from mass media to You media. On YouTube, advertisements, comments, and the video sidebar competed with Acconci's finger for my attention. His commanding gesture was no longer at the center of the screen but off to the left, crowded and displaced. 21st century visuality is insistently multifocal, while visual attention is increasingly surveilled. 

Special thanks go to Harrison Gong, Director of Research Services and the Center for Communication Research at Texas Tech University.