Space: not quite the final frontier as we know it but it can often seem that way. Space is an invisible entity that we label all the time to give it meaning. We enclose it, envelope it, walk and move through it, personalize it, privatize it, and publicize it. Space is with us all the time and yet like the wind we can’t see it, however, it allows us to see the world. Space was here before we arrived and it will still be here when we leave. As humans we have given space a generalization in our own terms to specify our boundaries and our laws, Public Space and Private Space. The definition of “Public” and “Private” as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary are ambiguous and representative ; Public-“relating to or available to the people as a whole……..” and Private-“for or belonging to one particular person or group only.” The question is: why do people place a name on something that has been around since before the earth was formed and that you can’t see and we have no ownership of. What we are really doing is trying to define a physical name to an area in relation to physical material (concrete, steel, glass, trees, etc) in order to give it meaning so that there is a clear understanding of whether the public can or cannot use that area. The space will always be there whether we name it or not. In our quest for this definition, Private and Public Space has become somewhat of a grey area with spaces public during the day and private at night for obvious security reasons. There is one space that we fail to mention as private and that is our own, the invisible shield of anonymity that “protects” us psychologically from the world.
We can translate however the spacial aspect of public and private space to a more psychological entity as well as a physical entity such as a building enveloping space. The psychological spatial awareness that we have as private space can be defined as our “personal space”. The area of comfort zone around us that either allows people that we know to get close to us or the people that we have yet to get to know to stay away from us. Personal space control is shown throughout campus in lecture halls, meetings and communal areas by either leaving a seat between yourself and the next person, placing an object between yourself and someone else or by avoiding eye contact and therefore refusing permission to someone wanting to sit next to you. This feeling of “virtual” space can be shown even clearer with someone walking with their headphones on, listening to music, or talking on the phone, texting their friends OR a combination of all three, completely oblivious to the world around them in their own ‘private’ spatial bubble.
We recognize this as private space in the personal objection to human contact on approach and the avoidance in recognition of the willingness to partake in one of the most basic of human functions, communication through eye-contact. In recognizing this “virtual” private space we tend to avoid or walk around people in their spatial bubble in order to prevent an accident or scaring them when we get nearer showing we understand that they want this privacy. The private space bubble can therefore only be broken by someone who knows the individual and is willing to break the sense of hypnosis created by the “virtual” space or a recognition that the individual needs to conform to a spatial dilemma like crossing the road or catching a bus. We have all requested this use of private space at one time or another throughout our lives and therefore we have an understanding to some degree of the implications surrounding the use of “virtual” space. Technology has to some extent increased the physical use of this “virtual” space in our current society.
The internet reflects the principles of the ‘idea’ of space. It continues to exist whenever we are doing something else, and it will continue to exist when we are no longer here, as long as computers and servers still run. ‘Virtual’ space also has the ambiguous distinctions of public and private depending on what websites you have the ability to access, are allowed to gain access to or have the money to gain access to. The public and private sphere of the internet mirrors our social structure of everyday lives and will continue to do so until we can break down our own definitions of public and private sphere.
Douglas McGlynn - a wee fireside chat 