Telephone, 2004
Mixed media / audio installation (desk, chair, lamp, telephone, CD-player) 120 x 120 x 140 cm
Photo: Marcos Morilla
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller produce multimedia installations, which extend the boundary of visual art, becoming hybrids of theatre, film and performance.
The simple setup of Telephone evokes an office environment in a bygone era. Sitting at the desk and lifting the antiquated telephone receiver, the visitor eavesdrops on a conversation between Janet Cardiff and a scientist, which focuses on the nature of space and time, the subjective awareness of time and location. This interaction suggests that the accelerating fluxes of information challenge the notion of emitter and recipient, a world wherein the message is often caught in cross-wires and delivered without the original context. Arguably, this trend stems out of the invention of the telegraph and the disembodiment of the message.
The installation also requires that the visitor adjusts her/his time to the one of the piece, as if to slow down and truly ponder the time shift suggested and discussed by the artists.
