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A Phonebox Installation Lets You Voice Your Political Opinion About Brexit

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Name
Project
+44... Leave a Message for Europe
Images
Dan Glasser
Words

London-based Artist Joe Sweeney has created an interactive public installation on an English beach, titled ‘+44… Leave a Message for Europe’. The phone booth enables viewers to be part of a permanent archive of public opinion, during one of the most polarizing times in British history.

The art piece is inspired by a typical phone booth from the 1990s, situated on a beach in Dungeness—a southeastern town in England that voted in favor of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union in 2016. Calls are diverted to a messaging service on the artwork’s website, where viewers can express their personal feelings and opinions. They can also listen to other audio testimonials that callers have left. A live stream of the messages recorded in the phone box is broadcasted online; you can read them here. “The inactive phone box acts as a beacon. It is a nostalgic call to action – a reminder of the way we once communicated – with the nuance of the voice”, explains a statement on the site. Exposed to varying weather conditions, “the sculpture also represents the U.K., facing new challenges and an uncertain future”. The installation will remain in place until the day the U.K. is presently scheduled to leave the European Union: the 29th of March, 2019.

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All images © Dan Glasser, courtesy Cob Gallery

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