My Father's Socks from Program Three
Dennis Oppenheim
American, 1938–2011
1972
A 4-minute black-and-white 16mm film (transferred to video) in which Dennis Oppenheim concentrates on the simple act of putting on socks to transform an ordinary, familial gesture into a deliberate performative meditation.
The image hits as an intimate, grainy close-up of two socked feet on a scuffed floor—hands tugging at a sock, the worn fabric, tiny fastenings and skin rendered with slow, tactile attention.
Made in 1972, the work aligns with conceptual and performance art of its moment by turning mundane domestic detail into a probe of memory, identity and the camera’s ability to make the private visible.
Medium
16mm film transferred to video (black and white, sound)
Dimensions
4:06 min.
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the artist
Accession
666.1997.3
Palette
Exhibitions
