Public Space in a Private Time by
Vito Acconci was a very interesting reading. What I liked about the reading was
the slow transition from the past into modern times. In the reading, Acconci
talked about a variety of things such as public and private spaces and types of
art. He starts off with talking about how everyone in the past would be able to
tell what time it was by walking down a street. It was a public thing because
every store had a clock that was visible to the public. Acconci then mentions
the use of the watch. People no longer needed the stores to see the time. The
watch made time more personal and private. The watch was simple, cheap and
affordable and then it had improved with a built in calculator. It was a more
fancy and personalized item. Later in the reading, the watch’s place of origin
was discussed. The watches were originally made in the United States but as
time passed they were made in foreign countries such as Taiwan or Korea because
production cost was much cheaper.
There was a lot of discussion as to
what is “public” and “private.” Acconci wrote how one thing could be public in
some situations but private in other. It was interesting to think about an art
piece and the relationship to an audience. For example, a painting in a gallery
will be seen by many people and it will be one of many paintings in a gallery.
This would be considered to be in a public space. The private space would be in
the house of art collector. Only a few people would see the painting and have
more time to analyze it. I think that Acconci was trying to accomplish two
things. One of them was the evolution of products such as the watch. The other
was proving a relationship between public and private things. It was a complex
reading that had many other topics such as music and sex that showed some
connection with public and private settings. I enjoyed the reading because of
the points that Acconci made on changes that have happened over time.
