Say Something (2012)
An old rotary phone has been intervened to call the artist every time the handset is picked up. A caged tungsten lamp has been modified to respond to the sound of human voices. These household — and now antiquated objects with vintage aesthetics serve as a foundation for the exploration of sociopolitical and conceptual ends. A legacy of surveillance, the increasing marginalization of unmediated social contact and the obsolescence of human voice as a primary method of communication are complicated by the romanticized nature of these apparatus.
“A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what? Two women. What do they look like? Wearing black. Where are they? In a park… . And then, what are they doing? Try it, it’s so easy, why don’t you want to play? You know, that’s how I talk to myself when I’m alone, I tell myself all kinds of stories. And not only silly stories: actually, I live this way altogether.”
— André Breton, Nadja
