Nick isn’t Normal. Normal lives with his wife and two kids in a quiet suburb in Florida. On the other hand, cross a behaviourial psychologist and a sculptor and you’ll get Nick Rodrigues.
Bump into him on the streets, and chances are if he hasn’t honked at you yet, he’s probably busy on the phone in his portable phone booth (Video 1, Video 2) . All in the name of art, he says, so we picked him off the streets and brought him in for questioning:
Sensory: What sort of reactions have you gotten? Has anyone ever given you any nasty looks?
Nick: I really wasn’t paying attention. I was on the phone. No, I’m just kidding, people absolutely loved the cell phone booth except for those who were on the phone; They hardly notice it. On the other hand, people hated the Automotive Armor – The horn can be really loud and annoying.
Sensory: Tell us a bit more about your background and this project. What are you really upto?
Nick:Well, I’m a pretty normal guy so I deal with the same stuff you do. To put it simply, I think the way people interact with one another can be really annoying. So I make sculpture that talks about it.
The piece “Automotive Armour” for example is a way to look at behaviour patterns towards each other in the car verus in person. What if we could act the same way on foot as we do in the car? Cut off old ladies, honk the horn when theirs a green light and of course yell anything you want from the protection of your car.
Sensory: What about the Portable Phone Booth?
Nick: The Portable Cellular Phone Booth provides a visual image of social sacrifices and opportunities to interact with one another lost due to our own self -involvement. The sculpture is a retractable phone booth that is carried on your back and can slide up and over your head to completely isolate you from society, kind of like the way a cell phone does. The action is fast and slick just like the flip action of a cell phone.
Historically the iconic phone booth represented a place where one could go to be alone for a private conversation, transform into superman or travel through time. Today, it’s obsolete in most cities. With the Portable Cellular Phone Booth, one can transform from a member of society to one that is closed off.
By delivering my sculpture to an unsuspecting public, anyone who notices the piece receives a myriad of messages from self deprecating humor to the neglecting of friendship in real time for the hope of something better.
To be open and receptive to one another is an invaluable trait not to be given up or taken advantage of. The sculptures that I make are my way of talking about the issues we all see but cannot change.
Sensory: Is there a project you’re currently working on right now?
Nick: These two projects are actually part of an interaction series of about 5 pieces. The next piece is going to tackle small talk. I’m currently seeking funding.
The Portable Cellular Phone Booth
The Portable Cellular Phone Booth created by Nick Rodrigues is designed to illustrate how disrespectful people are when they dare call their friends and family in public.
Trackback by textually.org — 1/3/2005 @ 5:25 am
Trackback by Tom-Style — 1/3/2005 @ 6:40 am
Portable Cellular Phone Booth
Sacrificed Interaction “The Portable Cellular Phone Booth provides a visual image of social sacrifices and opportunities to interact with one another lost due to our own self -involvement. The sculpture is a retractable phone booth that is carried on …
Trackback by networked performance — 1/3/2005 @ 8:46 am
Good idea, that needs expansion – Too bulkie in present form just as the first telephone was…Keep at it!
Comment by Kenneth W. Hatridge — 1/3/2005 @ 9:07 am
Cell Phone Booth
A personal phonebooth for cellphone users>. (Basically a performance art piece composed of a small, old-fashioned phone boot re-envisioned as a hat…). [via Gizmodo]...
Trackback by datacloud — 1/3/2005 @ 9:07 am
What a brilliant ideia
LOL
Comment by Gotinha — 1/3/2005 @ 3:39 pm
There are more comments at the Miami Herald weblog
Comment by adnan — 1/4/2005 @ 6:51 am
fabulous idea, fabulous and thoughtful social comment, couldn’t figure out why the cell phone phenomena bugs me (even though I own one), but you express it so well. Thank heavens for artists…we need you to keep us healthy.
Comment by norma — 1/4/2005 @ 7:18 am
Cell Phone Isolation Booths
Phone Booths. Ok, they were built so that when you were using the payphones you were afforded some privacy and shelter, if it was raining. They lost popularity over the last few years, with more than a million being taken down with the increase in cell…
Trackback by ipipi blog: send international text message — 1/4/2005 @ 11:08 am
[...] ole concept is completely wrong, and utterly hilarious! Without further ado, we present: The Portable Cellular Phone Booth.
Comme [...]
Pingback by Different River » The whole concept is wrong — 1/5/2005 @ 1:18 am
Nick is one of my best friends, whom i haven’t talked to in a while because he never answers his damn cell phone….i love ya nick, keep all of us inspired
Comment by Jesse Tarbell — 1/5/2005 @ 10:53 pm
Muss ich haben: Mobile Telefonzelle
[sensory impact.com » Performance Sculpture”]...
Trackback by MovableTape — 1/7/2005 @ 3:09 am
Portable Cell Phone Booths
It looks like portable cellphone booth are set to be all the rage
this year. Get one before they’re gone.
via Sensory Impact
Trackback by The Epicenter — 1/7/2005 @ 6:03 am
From the “Cone of Silence” department: The Portable Phone Booth.
link…
Trackback by johnford.net — 1/7/2005 @ 8:47 am
What about the Portable Phone Booth?
“The Portable Cellular Phone Booth provides a visual image of social sacrifices and opportunities to interact with one another lost …
Trackback by Learning Community Group's Research Network — 1/8/2005 @ 6:36 am
Very funny, cell phone booth
Comment by IAN — 1/8/2005 @ 7:22 am
Portable Phone Booth
Funny….
sensoryimpact.com †Performan…
Trackback by The Song Lives On — 1/12/2005 @ 6:44 am
I just had to add this because I thought it illustrates your point. A lady was in front of me picking up her take-out chinese food order, chatting on here cell phone. She gave her credit card to the man, he scanned it and she signed the receipt. he then proceed to ring me up and I paid. meanwhile she is remarking to her phone on how rude the man was for not giving her a proper exit, (you know “Thank You, Come Again”). I thought it was ironic, her she was on the cell phone, being completely “closed off” as you put it, And she has the nerve to call him rude.
Anyway, nice phone booth. Keep at it.
How about a piece on the disconnection from reality we have today. People spending hours playing the Sims pretending to alive, reality TV shows, and Online Role Playing Games. What ever happend to actually living a life? you know real human interaction.
Comment by Mike Levine — 1/12/2005 @ 10:37 pm
Now that’s a cell phone accessory!
Trackback by Christiana Talks About Stuff — 4/19/2005 @ 6:11 pm
How reliable are cell phones?
Cellular phones and pagers are part of the “now” generation, instant contact, anywhere at any time. People are looking for convenience, comfort and security. The question is how instantaneous and reliable is the contact? Talking with someone is the m…
Trackback by eMobile-News.com — 5/25/2005 @ 12:24 pm
Performance Sculpture
Performance Sculpture
Trackback by Performance Sculpture — 6/9/2005 @ 9:31 am
Hai
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)
Trackback by Anonymous — 6/27/2005 @ 3:11 am
But if the cell phone is too smart, you can run into troubles described here: www.cell-phone-viruses.com
Comment by Tim — 7/14/2005 @ 4:57 am
What about the Portable Phone Booth?
By delivering my sculpture to an unsuspecting public, anyone who notices the piece receives a myriad of messages from self deprecating humor to the neglecting of friendship in real time for the hope of something better….
Trackback by Richardson Stephanie — 9/26/2005 @ 5:44 am
Strange guy!...but funny!people like him nake our life more various!
Comment by Richardson Stephanie — 9/26/2005 @ 1:38 pm
hello,
Would it be possibe to get a high res. photo of the portable cell phone booth? We’d like to use one for Sync magazine. Any information you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Best Regards,
Stephen
Comment by Stephen Lipuma — 10/11/2005 @ 1:22 pm
Very funny, cell phone booth:)
Thank for artists, we need you to keep us healthy.
Comment by John — 12/6/2005 @ 9:15 am
Very good site! Thanks! :-)
Comment by Sophia Conceicao — 7/25/2007 @ 4:12 am