phone

The device rings. Sometimes. These unexpected episodes of activity take place less and less often as time passes, however. Most of the time, the object is on ‘standby,’ or ‘waiting’ – as seen now, with a tacitly blinking led light - its perpetual operation ensured by a wireless charging circuit.

The phone is a personal, tragi-comic exploration of the relational structure of meaning and a reflection on our technological everyday. It functions as a point of emptiness between the artist and audience. It invites questioning of the value of work unseen and of promises made between a maker and a viewer. It posits that it is through trust that anything becomes meaningful at all. Supposedly, the phone appeared to the artist in a dream. As a fictional object it partakes in the fact that through repetition and routine technological devices embed themselves in our lives and spin an imaginary realm. It tries to invite not-knowing, even wishing - all the while underscoring the inability to access that beyond. When the time comes, there is no way to satisfy the Pavlovian urge to ‘pick-up.’

Special thanks to Dieter Roelstraete, Pope.L, and Elizabeth Koprucki for supporting the project, and to Macol Cerda who was the first one to wait.

Conex 3d print, LCD display, electronic parts

2 x 9 x 7 in