Have you ever wanted to get something deeply personal off your chest or feed your voyeuristic tendencies? You can do both at this Long Island City exhibit.
Deli Gallery is providing an outlet for people to do just that with their new exhibition titled “Confession.” A collaboration between Gideon Jacobs and Gregor Hochmuth, the project began one year ago to pair up “those who wanted to confess with those who wanted to take confession.”
People were encouraged to call 917-809-7319, where they could choose to either talk or hear a confession. Those confessing could talk for as long as the listener stayed present on the line. Listeners could not speak because they were muted. Now, the project has a physical home at the Deli Gallery, located at 10-16 46th Ave., where a row of eight phones are affixed to the wall. Attendees can pick up the phone and listen to the archived calls.
Photo courtesy of Deli Gallery
The project was set up this way because both artists “believed for a confession to be truly cathartic, the confessor
must feel both safe and vulnerable, anonymous but heard,” according to a press release.
The archive includes thousands of recorded calls and the phone number is still active today.
Jacobs, a writer and artist, is based in Queens. He is a columnist on VICE and has contributed to The New Yorker, BuzzFeed and more. Hochmuth, an artist and engineer, was one of Instagram’s first employees and recently co-founded a television network called Dreams.
“Confession” will be on display from Aug. 11 through Sept. 3.
Listen to a recorded phone call below:
