This study for Le Va’s Velocity Piece performance represents another element of the work’s puzzle. Le Va conceptualized different permutations of the performance, mapping out flexible elements such as traffic flow, speed, and direction. For Le Va, space was not just a neutral backdrop or container for an activity, but formative in shaping the outcome of the event itself. The methodical, geometric plans for the performance contrast with its actual violent nature; for example, when Le Va hit each wall, the walls bore traces of his blood. At the end of the performance, Le Va was reduced to completing the last several runs hopping on one foot, depleted.

The extreme, grand gesture of Velocity Piece is echoed in Le Va’s distribution pieces, like 4 Layers: Placed, Dropped, Thrown. These similarly recorded the artist’s gestures, contrasting the violent and the controlled, as he shattered glass and placed nonthreatening materials alongside it.