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Stunning Pistol-Shaped Sculpture Made from 168 Rotary Telephones

Artist Joana Vasconcelos gathered and arranged 168 rotary telephones for her larger-than-life sculpture titled Call Center. The Lisbon-based creative transformed the iconic-yet-dated phones into a shiny, cohesive-looking unit that's as stunning as it is monumental. Its shape is reminiscent of a Beretta pistol, but the only things coming from this handgun are the fantastic receivers that dangle by their wavy black cords.

Call Center first made its appearance last year during the Filipe Fasca Spring-Summer 2015 fashion show in Ptio da Gal, Lisbon. It was featured front and center on the catwalk as models walked around it. Besides its eye-catching looks, the piece also had a sound system installed. It played specially-composed music titled Call Center: Electroacustic Symphony for 168 Telephones by Jonas Runa.

Vasconcelos is a woman of many artistic talents, and this isn't the first time we've marveled over her work. Previously, she's produced things like giant shoes made with pots, pans, and lids, as well as a fabulous helicopter inspired by the infamous Marie Antoinette.

Photo credit: Nuno Ferreira Santos

Photo credit: Nuno Ferreira Santos

Joana Vasconcelos website
via [Cerceos and Pblico]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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