Recalling Simpler Times: Sheep Sculpted from Rotary Phones

I first came across the Museum of Communications in Frankfurt through a posting on Inhabitat . Obviously collections are the foundation of any museum but this is not only a museum of communication artifacts, memory and history, but a place to discuss the past, present and future.

We all know that communication technologies are developing rapidly and communication has become increasingly important in a diverse and globalized world. Cultural diversity, networking and intercultural communication are characteristics of the fundamental change from an industrial to a communication society.

The phone for example is the theme of gathering.  Moe Beitiks review of Jean Luc Cornec’s exhibit at the Museum of Communications in Frankfurt seems to imply as much. The review states apart from the visually striking animation that is achieved by these static sculptures, what becomes especially compelling is the feeling of being stared down by both an animal and obsolete technology at the same time. The rotary phone, not unlike a country flock of sheep, has entered its own era of charming similar to the lost art of letter-writing or Christmas cards.

The rotary phone once considered essential has now been placed to the wayside. What in today’s world is next to follow?

The exhibition engages visitors to recall more simplified times through a flock of free-roaming sheep sculpted from old, analog, rotary phones.

This entry was posted on January 25th, 2010 and is filed under Connecting Audiences, Interesting Artifacts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.