Kathy Acker

A Second of Time

1978

Spiral-bound notebook with marker, crayon, pencil, colored pencil, paint, correction fluid, cut-and-pasted paper, and tape, containing photocopy, typewriting on paper, and ink on card

Not on view

“Shall we find our way out of all expectations?” Acker asks. Known for her daring approach to literature, she describes a fragmentary and dreamlike journey in this experimental artist’s book. Connecting the ancient tombs of Alexandria with 1970s New York City, A Second of Time is a tale of metamorphosis and otherworldly transformation in which the differences between human and nonhuman as well as living and dead evaporate. Collaged in both its format and narrative, the book knits together disparate themes as Acker invites the reader to make imaginative associative leaps.

Gallery label from

Vital Signs: Artists and the Body, November 3–February 22, 2024

Medium Spiral-bound notebook with marker, crayon, pencil, colored pencil, paint, correction fluid, cut-and-pasted paper, and tape, containing photocopy, typewriting on paper, and ink on card
Dimensions 12 3/8 × 10 × 1 1/2" (31.4 × 25.4 × 3.8 cm)
Credit Partial gift of the Daled Collection and partial purchase through the generosity of Maja Oeri and Hans Bodenmann, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Agnes Gund, Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, and Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley
Object number 534.2011
Department Drawings and Prints

Explore more

All works from 1970–1980 →

From MoMA Design Store

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.