Maps published and distributed throughout San Francisco identify locations of payphones. Once the visitor reaches the location, they are able to call a phone number and enter an “area code” to retrieve a micro-narrative based on the letter sheets popular in the nineteenth century. The narratives chronicle and describe first-person site-specific historical events that are often omitted from ordinary city tours, such as the lynchings of Chinese workers in Portsmouth Square or the sexist and racist descriptions of faraway lands by Merchant Marines.
Media: telephones, voice mail systems
Location: Summer Sound Lab, The Lab, San Francisco, CA