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title> Call medium> intervention using vintage telephone modified with programmable microcontroller and custom circuitry. Edition of 2 date> 2006 credits> electronic circuit design and technical assistance by Gordon Hicks description> presentations> MKG127 Summer 2007; ZeroOne San Jose / ISEA 2006, Ottawa Art Gallery 2006 |
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Feedback Some
anecdotes / oral history / observations D, 30.6.07 (during exhibition opening): "they keep calling and when they hear a real voice they hang up." Dave, 1.7.07: "Your piece was really nice. I spoke with a J__ who said she hoped to meet sexy guys on the phone. Asked if I was one and if I was into women. I used the word 'wife' for maybe the 2nd or 3rd time in my life."
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Some anecdotes
/ oral history / observations 13 volunteers, averaging 3-4 calls/day. S, 15.8.06: "after talking to several callers i realized people were very friendly but unsure of what to talk about. everyone would immediately talk about the phone... after about ten to twenty calls, i couldn't handle it. someone called and tried to talk about the phone and so i interrupted them and asked them to tell me the strangest or most useful fact they know. the lady couldn't do it, so i told her that when being strangled to death by a 20 foot python you can pour hot water on it and it will release its coils. i guess usually people aren't around a glass of hot water while being strangled by a snake, but the fact did loosen our conversation up. the lady told me ghiradelli's chocolate company was started with only 6 pounds of chocolate and we talked about various physical laws... the next person who called got me on a day off. she started in english, but switched to japanese and it made things pretty awkward because i'm half japanese but can't speak any. she switched from english to japanese and back several times and then asked me how i'm doing. i responded with 'to be honest i'm confused.' she asked why and i decided to be further honest 'well, you're speaking in english and japanese, i'm not sure if you're two people, i'm stoned and i just want to get some panda express.' by her reaction i would say she was definitely my age and probably in a similar demographic. she was with three friends and we all talked for about half an hour. i'm not sure, but i felt flirted with... no one was ever rude, but one girl did call and say 'seven days' and hung up. which apparently is from a horror movie that i haven't seen -- and so i missed the joke. i noticed the times i didn't answer my phone, people would leave very strange messages. they were either complete jokes or confused people unsure of what to say rambling and making odd sounds." G, 11.8.06: In the
six or seven calls I got yesterday, I talked to a seven-year-old girl,
a very mature-sounding 14-year-old girl, and a man who sounded quite a
bit older than me, who told me how it was for him to be unemployed for
more than two years after the dotcom bust. J, 10.8.06: "Got the funniest message tonight from the Call phone - some guy said, 'Hi there, I just wanted to tell you your voice is really sexy, so I'll be thinking of you when I go to sleep tonight.' Ha ha, made my day!" M, 29.8.06 [excerpt]:
"I received 14 calls, 10 I answered and 4 left messages... A, 9.8.06: "This has really been fun. Almost all the callers are very disingenuous and sweet. I've had several leave messages when I've been unable to answer. So far only one guy has left me his phone number! Tonight I had a very nice chat with one of the caterers, who had brought his 6 month old daughter to the light show. We talked until his boss came by. One guy asked if I were answering a phone in a museum too." Germaine: I find it interesting that in the 15 or so calls I took over the first four days of this electronic art festival, only two of the people who called were involved in visual or media arts. What might this reveal about how an 'expert' audience interacts with such a project? A: Many people simply say hello and then pause after she answers -- as if they were the ones answering the phone rather than initiating the call, or as though they were expecting her to launch into a performance. |
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Some anecdotes
/ oral history / observations M is blogging about
the experience here.
An excerpt: P: Got one creepy call from a digitally altered voice asking for his mother's maiden name. R: Most callers so far want to know why he's doing this. One guy quite obnoxious and condescending. R might try to come up with appropriate way to respond to inappropriate behaviour.
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