An interactive installation by Irene Toniolo and Dario Santacroce

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By lifting the receiver, the viewer inadvertently eavedrops on an intimate conversation between lovers, blurring the line between intimacy and intrusion.

Within the interactive installation, a small dark room contains a table with a black rotary phone and a vintage lamp. From the speakers, a soundscape can be heard—the same one that serves as the soundtrack for the video I created, which is featured in the “video art” section of the website.

As soon as a person enters the room, the lamp turns on, illuminating the phone, which begins to ring.

Only when the spectator-performer picks up the receiver does the dialogue begin, but it can be heard exclusively through the handset.

Components:

Retrofitted 1950s bakelite phone

Brass banker’s lamp

Custom-made electronics and sensors

Ambient audio loop – runtime: 2’ 30’’

Phone voices audio – runtime: 1’ 45’