The Concretophone, is part of a research project on working conditions and environments: it is an interactive telephone, a rebel receptionist, a manufacturing defect and a grandfather telling stories. The ring suggests to the visitor to discover who is hiding on the other side of the device. After lifting the receiver the listener is carried into an apocalyptic mix of automatic response services transferring him to a very different experience from that of been everyday. Playing with one of the central experiences of contemporary communication, the call-center, Le Concretophone involves the public and surpasses the quiet border between design, performance and installation. The object itself, a recycled transparent phone from the nineties, puts the user in an experimental and playful context. In fact, after having undergone surgery and by using the Arduino microcontroller, the telephone can now recite poetry and play any sound file saved in its memory. The Concretophone is a project under development: we plan to expand its interactivity, aesthetics and humor.

The work was conceived together with Giulia Messana Loi and Jacopo Ammendola (www.orizzontale.org).