Art by Telephone

Keywords: Telephone - Communication Art

Walter de Maria had an operational telephone placed on the floor of the exhibition room in "Art by Telephone" in 1968 (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago) and in "Wenn Attitüden Form werden" ("Giving Shape to Attitudes") at the Kunsthalle in Bern in 1969. There was a sign next to the phone saying, "When the phone rings, pick up the receiver. Walter de Maria will be on the phone wanting to talk to you." The media de Maria combined were the telephone, the exhibition, and the sign. The phone was used as an information channel between the artist outside the exhibition context and the audience within it.

"In 1969, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art organized an exhibition called *Art by Telephone* that to some extent repeated László Moholy-Nagy's experiment. Thirty-six artists were asked to place a phone call to the museum and to instruct museum staff about what their contribution to the show would be. The museum then produced the pieces and displayed them. *Art by Telephone* did not actually explore the telephone as a new artistic medium; the telephone was only used as a remote interface to accomplish something that could be done, for example, if the artist went to the museum and talked to the curator."
Adriana de Souza e Silva: "Art By Telephone: From Static To Mobile Interfaces", 2004.
http://www.flong.com/telesymphony/press/souza/

Resources:
Audio mp3 recording:
http://www.ubu.com/sound/art_by_telephone.html
List of participating artists:
http://www.leftmatrix.com/artbytelephone.html

Keywords: Telephone - Communication Art

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