12 Marias (12 Marys), 1999

Acoustic installation, Table, 12 telephone connections, 12 answering machines, place cards, infocards, 6,5 x 8 x 1 m

The museum becomes the site of a fictional conversation. Set along a long table are 12 answering machines that can be dialed up from external phones. Each contains a recorded message from one of 12 historical Marys, among them Maria Callas, Marie Curie and Mary Stuart. Each answers one of the most pressing questions of our time: “How can we escape the deluge?” The telephone network is the actual scene of the piece.

Permanent installation (2001) at the Museum for Communication, Hamburg.

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