When Old Phones Are Put Out To Pasture
Have you ever wondered what becomes of old phones when they’re replaced by newer technology? Sure, most end up in the proverbial scrap heap and become land fill. But some, perhaps the lucky ones, are given a new lease on life…
When client Delena emailed some of these photos to our office last week, I thought, “Grazing sheep made of old rotary telephones, how novel!” Then I wondered who, when, where…why? Well, I gathered a little information. But first, meet the rest of the herd…
Art, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. But it must first be a glimmer in the imagination of an artist. Apparently featured at the Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt, French artist Jean Luc Cornec’s Telephone Sheep were constructed of older model rotary telephones and their accompanying cords wrapped around sheep-formed understructures. The phone on the cradle strikingly resembles a head in this context with the melted and bent handsets creating hooves, and twisted handset cords resembling wool.
Pretty creative, especially displayed as though they’re grazing in a little “pasture”. The little herd even has its own black sheep (heh).
I wasn’t able to pin down exactly when the phonesheep were first exhibited, but these Flickr photo streams show they were photographed at least as early as 2002 (by Danny Howard) and were still being photographed in 2008.
Doug
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Reader Comments (22)
They are darling! Look at their little hoofs! I want one!
it looks like the poor little black one has been ostracized by the rest of the herd. or maybe he is just 'doing his own thing' because he is the black sheep in the family. no matter, they are all adorable!
A glimmer in the mind's eye of an artist all right. I have thrown away so many old phones over the years and never saw a sheep head in any of them. I guess that is why you never see my "art" exhibited anywhere.
Amazing idea!! And he posed them perfectly!! I don't know much about art, but I know I like this. I looked at his other art on his web site, but imho this is the best.
awwwwwww, they is so cute!!! i want a little herd of them in my apartment!!
Pure artistic genius. I never saw a head in an old phone or sheep wool in old phone cords. To be able to "see" things in discarded materials is what separates artists from the rest of us.
The little black sheep looks like he is up to some mischief, doesn't he? The idea was brilliant, but the posing and arrangement makes them come to life. What a wonderful find!
I want one baaaaaaaaadddddd :)
(ring.... ring.... ring.... )
"It's for ewe.... "
Phone sheep. Who kn-ewe?
I had a headache, now I can't stop laughing!!
A culture clash statement about the contrasts of the natural world and the synthetic one?
Do androids dream of electric sheep?
Ewesome!
Sheep with telephones, that is what we all are, sheep with mobile telephones on our heads.
Too bad the museum is in Frankfurt! We are "Sheepless" in Seattle :)
I know, baaaaad.
Baa Bell before the breakup. Baaaaaaaad.
I see cords running from the sheep. Do the phones actually work? That would be really awesome!
Gotta find me some ewey ringtones.
Ewe....phone....home....
They would be handy if you are in New Zealand and can't get a cell signal :)
These are so cute it makes me want one in my living room!