Contact Call

Hörner/Antlfinger

2008
 

 

The two-part room installation »Contact
Call« makes use of the most effective
mating calls of our time, employing the
competing sounds of mobile phones,
telephones and fax machines to draw
the attention of visitors. These acoustic
signals are not actually technical in
origin but are perfectly imitated by two
African Grey Parrots. This linguistically
gifted bird species demonstrates both in
its natural biological habitat and when
living with human beings an astonishing
ability to adapt tonal sequences – precisely
those sounds that draw the interest
of the social environment in a meaningful
way are incorporated into the bird’s
verbal repertoire. In the exhibition room,
a peephole makes it possible to establish
contact with the alluring sources of
these sounds, who peer back out of the
boxes, satisfied by the attention given
to them: »Are you there? I am here!«
Contact Call plays with the simplest
elements of communication amonghuman
beings, machines and animals
as well as with the desire for attention
and reflection, for watching and being
watched.

Installation

2 wooden boxes, painted white
2 stair landings, metal and wood
2 Macintosh laptops with proximity
sensors