Can I Please Listen to Myself?
2024
Interactive art / Sculpture / Installation / Performance art
Can I Please Listen to Myself? is an interactive art installation that fosters self-reflection and communication. It creates a space where individuals can explore their inner thoughts and emotions, encouraging a more authentic and mindful way of expressing themselves.
As visitors pass by the phone booth, a ringing phone urges them to pick up. Upon answering, they hear the artist’s personal story about her bent toes—an embodiment of unspoken words and emotional scars from a formative relationship. This intimate disclosure invites participants to reflect on their own unspoken experiences and share their stories in return. The artist believes that these hidden wounds deserve to be voiced and acknowledged.
To fully hear the story, participants must bring the artist’s intentionally grotesque sculptural foot close to their face—a symbolic act that blurs the boundaries between intimacy and discomfort. In exchange for this gesture, the installation offers a reciprocal space where the artist, too, listens, creating a shared moment of connection through storytelling.
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Exhibition photos at Volkspark am Weinberg in Berlin, Germany
Mixed Media
Foot-phone: Phone, Airclay, Exoxy putty, acrylic paint
Phone box: Expandable PVC, Spray paint
Electronic device: Raspberry PI, Arduino, Ultrasonic sensor, Piezo sensor, Switch
Phone box: Expandable PVC, Spray paint
Electronic device: Raspberry PI, Arduino, Ultrasonic sensor, Piezo sensor, Switch
Click the play button below to hear the story that begins when the footphone is picked up.
There is an interesting backstory I would like to share.
Unfortunately, this phone stopped working just 15 minutes after the exhibition began. I opened the box to troubleshoot the issue, but I wasn't able to figure this out at that moment. (Later, I discovered that the problem was caused by insufficient amperage of the portable power bank. To run the Raspberry Pi stably, at least 3 amps were required, but my power bank was only 2 amps.)
I was about to take everything back to the studio to resolve the issue. Instead, I decided to roam around the park, spreading my stories while holding the foot-phone to my face.
I started asking people in the park, "Do you want to hear my story?" and "Do you want to hold this foot-phone?" Since this idea stemmed from my identity as a passive communicator, the act of actively seeking people to have a conversation with became a personal practice. It was a way for me to learn how to communicate more actively. My "meant-to-be-still foot-phone" on an exhibition pedestal transformed into a "walking foot-phone," becoming an active communicator.
Then, something magical happened.
Many people began sharing their stories with me. Some had similar bent toes, either for the same or different reasons. One person shared that, when she was young and extremely poor, her entire family had to share a single pair of shoes.
The power of storytelling was incredible. Even though we had just met minutes earlier, they felt comfortable enough to share their deepest stories with me, because I had opened up by sharing my own.
Sadly, while I was walking through the park, I accidentally broke the toe of my foot-phone when I dropped it. I had to repair the damage using epoxy glue.
Exhibition at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin, Germany
