Cable Girl performance

The Telephone Switchboard Operator, c. 1905, photo by E. Blomeyer, Baylor Texas library collection

As a nod to the women telegraphers and cable girls, once upon a time when the phone connectors were very much gendered, when electric wires were considered body extensions, and when people believed thoughts and spirits were travelling through cables: this is a performance inviting participants to enter the phone booth one by one, to each pick up the phone when ringing, where they will intercept a mystery call.

It evokes the absurdity of our lives, familiar strangers passing by each other, not noticing our urban miscommunications - yet thanks to the cable girl connecting them, they can meet for one brief moment in time. 

Info & Credits

1-2.06.2024

Commission:

Marianne Mettler and Window of Fame

Performance:

Phone Booths of Goldbrunnenplatz and Schmiede Wiedikon, Zurich

More info:

Window of Fame

Photo credits:

The Telephone Switchboard Operator, c. 1905, photo by E. Blomeyer, Baylor Texas library collection (source: Flickr)