A WORK IN PUBLIC SPACE BY THOMAS HIRSCHHORN, PRODUCED BY DIA ART FOUNDATION NEW YORK
LOCATED AT FOREST HOUSES, THE BRONX - NEW YORK CITY, SUMMER 2013
Early last week two elderly women stopped by the desk outside the ambassador's office.
I was about to have an apple when the more senior of the pair said in English, "Antonio
was the name of my late husband." A few minutes later we were conversing speedily
through various topics, Gramsci, New York, and Forest Houses. They introduced themselves
and explained that they emigrated from Puerto Rico in the late 1940s and have lived
in the community for the past 50 years. To acknowledge our commonality, I switched
to Spanish and shared that most of my family still lives in San Juan and the conversation
continued in both languages. Mrs. Aponte mentioned that she observed the entire construction
phase of the monument from her ground floor window and felt pity for the crew during
the rainy days, which were many last month. Simply learning that she had been observing
for the past six weeks made think of the inseparable role of action and response
in the experience of art. The fact that Mrs. Aponte's had abandoned her "window view"
and was now standing inside the monument talking with me was an encouraging response,
a form of feedback. Minutes later I will learn that the two women were deaf and our
conversation was mediated through their superb lipreading skills.
