Juergen Staack
Communication Model 01, 2012
mixed media
175 x 120 x 150 cm
Further images
A coin-operated telephone booth from China is installed in the exhibition space, enabling visitors to call other booths worldwide, including destinations such as Beijing, São Paulo, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Cannes,...
A coin-operated telephone booth from China is installed in the exhibition space, enabling visitors to call other booths worldwide, including destinations such as Beijing, São Paulo, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Cannes, and London. Communication only occurs if someone at the other location happens to pick up the receiver, making each exchange dependent on coincidence, presence, and willingness. The work thus stages communication not as a given, but as a fragile and temporary possibility. By using the obsolete infrastructure of the public phone booth, Staack evokes a form of connection that is already disappearing. The piece becomes a sculptural metaphor for the ephemerality of language and the fleeting nature of human communication across distance.