RIP

The name RIP echoes that of the defunct Italian public phone company, SIP. RIP is a public exercise in curiosity, an open inquiry about intimacy and disappearance in the public space.

I accidentally found an old phonebook city map from the late 1980s, and noticed that all phone booths were marked upon it. I went and looked for them, and in most cases I only found their square, concrete bases and a bunch of other ruins. But I also found that some of them were still standing, invisible to most people, silently undergoing removal. It both scares and fascinates me how we literally stop seeing things once we don’t use them anymore.
 
I opened a Facebook page, Prontopronto, to document the mapping and research, and then proceeded to build a 1:1 section of a phonebooth with both original and recreated components.

Then, I placed the piece on the exact spots where it used to stand 30 years ago. The skin of the city has changed quite a lot since then. 

Presentations took place inside a real phonebooth. Anyone could place a free anonymous call, recorded by RIP for further works.

RIP, 2016, mixed media (wood, metal, paint, acrylic glass).
RIP – elenco abbonati, 2016, ultraviolet print on paper
RIP – phonebox, 2017, vinyl extrusion, vinyl paint, photographic prints.
Part of the Joan Flasch Collection, SAIC, Art Institute of Chicago. 

Rolling Stone Italia
Cerchio Magazine