"Vito Acconci, a father of performance and video art and a shamanistic, poetic, deeply influential force on the New York art scene for decades, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 77.

Maria Acconci, his wife and only immediate survivor, confirmed the death. She said it came after a short illness but gave no cause.

Starting in the late 1960s, in love with literature but realizing he was too restless by nature to be a traditional poet, Mr. Acconci began creating documented performances in the street or for tiny audiences, his radar finely tuned to an existential unease that pervaded American society."