what i did and said

So it turns out that Vito Acconci doesn't know that he has a virtual doppelganger running around in Second Life. Mr. Acconci was here yesterday to give a lecture and meet with some of us graduate students and said some really interesting things about space and how we interact/exist within it. The question was posed to him whether he felt that cyberspace (or the internet or virtual spaces) offers the same opportunities for interaction that real spaces do. He responded by citing the Elastic Mind show at the MOMA as evidence of artists/designers thinking in that direction, but ultimately said two things: it would have to be done by people younger than him and the interface would have to change (read improve) for it to be effective.
The really interesting thing about Acconci and his inclusion in this blog is that ideologically he fits right in with artists who want to create experiences that are of a visceral nature in the virtual world. He recounted how he "left art behind" to focus on forms of expression that were more directly involved in the everyday life of people in ways that traditional art couldn't or wouldn't, whichever the case may be ( I encourage you to look at some of his early works and writings about them to see that as a performance artist he was always involved in "spaces" and how people interact with the spaces he created in galleries).
He came to the conclusion that architecture was the most fulfilling thing that he could do by building a structure that people could come into and inhabit. Which brings me to the digital art part of this post. Vito Acconci, were he born today, would be a digital artist. The ultimate fulfillment, the completion of his arc of reaching people via creating environments that allowed them to exist and empowered them, would be found in a completely virtual environment. No limitations. Just complete immersion from every angle and every sense while allowing for individual creativity and expression.
I asked Vito as we were leaving if he was aware of the aforementioned second-life staged piece and how he felt about what was intended as a piece that commented on public and private space and proximity being reproduced in an environment where proximity and public/private issues are still evolving. He seemed excited about the idea that the piece existed, and wants me to send him a link to it. I think that allows me to refer to him heretofore as "my buddy Vito."