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Arduino “telephone” Le Concretophone (2010) – Troglodisme…
Le Concretophone derived from a performance research on working environments. Its name derives from a Brazilian art movement contemporary to Beat poetry which started as Poesia Concreta. It is a telephone made interactive with the combination of an Arduino microcontroller (www.arduino.cc) and a Waveshield (www.ladyada.net).
When picking up its handset, we are greeted by a sound mix of various customer service answering messages ( Talk Talk, House of Commons, White House…). Choosing between the options by pressing its buttons, we then hear a selection of six poems (Ginsberg, Decio Pignatari, Eliott).
The listener, faced with a transparent 1980′s retro phone is put in the playful position of wanting to pick up, promptly surprised by a disturbing set of forcefully suave voices, a deranged blend of familiar instructions.
Instead of sought after customer relief, the listener is now bound to hear poems about time, leisure and imagination.The sound content can be changed according to the environment, the context and our intentions, thanks to removable SD card. We intend to continue developing its interactivity, aesthetic, and humour.
FEED
That’s not an 80′s phone. That’s a 90′s phone that originally included a neon tube surrounding the circuit board in the base (which is conveniently spray painted white). They came a model with either a red or blue tube; The light could be set to flash when ringing or stay on (or both). It’s kind of a shame to have destroyed its original splendor.
Comment by John Laur — August 24, 2010 @ 5:21 pm