The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

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Aliza Shvarts, Hotline, 2020-Present

Developed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hotline appropriates the dated, faceless technology of the telephone hotline in order to consider what kinds of things we ask, confess, or create with one another at a mediated distance. From sex hotlines, crisis hotlines, psychic hotlines, to tip hotlines, the anonymous phone call is a poignant example of intimacy without proximity. To participate, call (866) 696-0940 (international callers, please use Facetime Audio or Skype). Stay anonymous. If you choose to leave a message, it will be made public as part of the documentation for this piece. To listen to messages left by past participants, please scan or click the QR codes below.

A white QR code over a square image of a person taking a photo with a smartphone surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of people in the dark holding landline phones to their ears surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of a blonde woman holding a telephone to her ear surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of a close-up shot of a woman with glasses on the phone surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of a telephone booth surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of a man with sunglasses talking on a phone outside surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of a woman on the phone surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of an eye looking through a glasses lens surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of woman posing with a phone hanging on a cord surrounded by a black background.
A white QR code over a square image of a telephone keypad surrounded by a black background.

Related Exhibitions

Install view of a gallery with a figurative sculpture to the left with a projection in the background, a soft sculpture hung on the wall at center and painting.
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