“It’s for you” Conceptual Art and the Telephone at HCC

The Housatonic Museum of Art at Housatonic Community College will present an exhibit “'It’s for you' Conceptual Art and the Telephone" in the Burt Chernow Galleries and other areas of the HCC campus from Feb. 24 to March 25, according to a statement

"The exhibit is, in part, a response to the wide-ranging use of phones in the hallways and other areas on the campus of the college," the statement said.

"Each day students text, talk, surf the net, and listen to music on their phones. With this exhibition, artworks that use the phone as an artistic medium or mediator are brought together in an original exhibition curated by Terri C. Smith," the statement said.

"The projects range from the late 1960s to today and include sound pieces, videos, and objects that resonate with the functions, technologies, and physicality of the telephone. Artists in the exhibition include: T. Foley, Lukas Geronimas, Jeremy LeClair, Christian Marclay, Yoko Ono, Rachel Perry Welty, Robert Peters, Pietro Pellini, and Hannah Wilk."

"Many of the artists in “It’s for you” aim to democratize the artist/audience relationship, a quality that is intricately woven into the history of conceptual art. In “It’s for you,” Yoko Ono might call the gallery as part of her Telephone Piece, providing direct contact between artist and viewer. Students will work with T. Foley, creating their own ring tones as part of her Locally Toned project. Archival materials are also included as a way to represent ephemeral works from the past as with Robert Peters’ Naming Others: Manufacturing Yourself (1993) where the artist asked people to call an 800 number from pay phones and choose which stereotyping phrase described them best," the statement said.

HCC is located at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in downtown Bridgeport, less than 150 yards off I-95 (Exit 27) and Rte. 8 (Exit 1), a block from the Arena at Harbor Yard. Free parking is available in the Housatonic garage.