Momentarium : : by Markuz Wernli Saitô

The Payphone Memorial.

Nine - soon to be dismantled - pay phones in Kyoto, Berlin and Linz have been converted into transitorial memorial sites for people to have their souvenir photo taken. That is commonly refered to as Collective Landmarking.

PROJECT ARCHIVE:
Phone portraits
Clip collection
Comments
Reviews
Schedule 500KB

You are right: the technical advance (of mobile technology) can't be stopped. In Japan for example, the use of pay phones decreases annually by 20 percent. But think about it. Not only kids, the elderly and foreign travelers will always be in need of truly public (openly accessible) and affordable telephones. Also cellphone owners with spotty connection, dead batteries or the wrong provider... So lets preserve a good piece of public inventory before its too late.

TV News Feature broadcast by KBS Kyoto Television in July 2007 (3:30min, 13MB), in Japanese (don't mind the language since it is highly visual)
Click below to watch.

Momentarium Movie.

The promise: Get a free souvenir photo with your favorite pay phone and celebrate a good piece of life line and public inventory in a time when things more and more turn to the private and individual.

Payphone Memorials in Europe

August 4, 2007 [#9]:
Berlin at Sonnenallee Street in Neukölln with the generous support of Ayumi Matsuzaka (12 participants, 7 payphone portraits).

July 25, 2007 [#8]:
Linz at Main Square with the endorsement of students and faculty of Transart Institute (14 participants, 8 payphone portraits).

Payphone Memorials in Japan

June 22, 2007 [#7]:
Kyoto in Matsugata Shotengai alias Demachiyanagi shopping arcade (39 participants, 23 payphone portraits) made possible by the Shotengai management, Haruo Kondo, KBS Kyoto TV and Justin Ellis.

May 25, 2007 [#6]:
Kyoto in Sanjo Shotengai shopping arcade (35 participants, 10 payphone portraits) supported by Miwa Kitaike, Karin-san, Tamami Ishihara and Tamae Isoda Naido.

May 20, 2007 [#5]:
Kyoto in Arashiyama North (14 participants, 8 payphone portraits) endorsed by Makiko Hori, Takaki-san and Ryou Yamazaki, Edgar Franz and the Arashiyama Sake Shop.

May 19, 2007 [#4]:
Kyoto at Kitano-tenamangu Shrine (74 participants, 24 payphone portraits) made possible by the Shrine's openmided administration, Miyuki Koichi, Rumiko Kawaii, Edgar Franz and Roger Walch.

May 18, 2007 [#3]:
Kyoto at Seika University (35 first year students of Graphic Design program) with the support of John Einarsen and Justin Ellis.

May 13, 2007 [#2]:
Kyoto at Kawabata-dori (8 participants, 6 payphone portraits) with the enthusiastic endorsement from Miki Matsumoto and Ted Taylor.

May 12, 2007 [#1]:
Kyoto at Gingakuji-mae (35 participants, 10 payphone portraits) with the relentless support of Keiko, Mie, Yuka Saito, Shichijo Katsuya and Kame-chan.

The Payphone Memorial comes your way: Do you know a payphone in well-frequented location with a bit of space? Get in touch and lets organize the Payphone Memorial near you together.

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Each moment of the everyday, every action of living, poses the question: how it might be lived differently, more truthfully and respectfully. Through conscious interventions Momentarium provides a forum of inquiry on human coexistence.