How a very long telephone helped an artist navigate cultural respect
In short: What happens when high-tech art meets deep-seated family traditions? For artist Aparna Rao, a sculptural, elongated phone wasn't just a prank—it was a way to navigate the complex, culturally coded obligations of respect and service within her Indian family.
Aparna Rao, a TED Fellow and member of the Bangalore-based art duo Pors & Rao, uses technology to reimagine the familiar. Alongside collaborator Søren Pors, she creates interactive installations that use humor to highlight subtle human behaviors and emotional responses. Her work often features high-tech objects that subvert expectations, such as a typewriter capable of sending emails or a camera system that tracks a person only to render them invisible on screen. These installations are designed to put a playful spin on ordinary interactions. By embedding technology into sculptural forms, the duo aims to awaken viewers to their own internal patterns.
The origins of her practice lie in a piece called 'The Uncle Phone.' Created to address the difficulty of declining simple requests from an elder—an act that can be culturally fraught in India—the sculpture is a very long telephone. It served as a way to rationalize the disruptions caused by repetitive requests, such as being asked to dial a number or fetch water, by addressing the need for respect in an affectionate, inquiring manner. Rao describes the drive to create such pieces as a compulsion rather than a premeditated vision. The project allowed her to express a complex mental space that is otherwise difficult to articulate.
While the duo's backgrounds are intercultural—with Pors being Danish and Rao being Indian—their focus remains on interpersonal relationships rather than cultural friction. This is evident in pieces like 'Missing Person,' which explores the sensation of invisibility. The work can be interpreted through the lens of superhero tropes or as a commentary on the social invisibility of domestic help in India, where individuals are often not acknowledged on the same social level. The experience of seeing oneself vanish on a monitor can trigger a startling neurological reaction. For Rao, the initial sensation of this digital disappearance was a complete mental flip.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: High-tech art (with a sense of humor) - Aparna Rao
- Also: Peek-a-boo!: Fellows Friday with Aparna Rao | TED Blog
- Also: www.ted.com — Aparna Rao: High-tech art (with a sense of humor) | TED Talk
- Also: ed.ted.com — High-tech art (with a sense of humor) - Aparna Rao | TED-Ed
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