Few items are universally recognised as iconically British as the red K-6 telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and introduced in 1936 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Ubiquitous and indispensable during the pre-mobile phone era, these kiosks have now become the stars of a London wide art installation.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the charity ChildLine, BT has sponsored the BT ArtBox project where 40 leading British and international artists, including Simeen Farhat, have been invited to re-style this much-loved icon of British design.
The BT ArtBoxes will be on display in high-profile locations around the capital this summer, leading to the London 2012 Olympiad, before being auctioned for charity. The project is being run in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, which will be hosting a VIP gala auction of the ArtBoxes on July 18 to raise money for Child Line, marking it’s 25th anniversary. The ArtBoxes can also be acquired now via on line auction site ebay. All proceeds will be destined for ChildLine.
Farhat has applied her own equally iconic style to a kiosk, named by her as “Out of the Box”, and now displayed on Baker Street. She has deconstructed certain words to show the kiosk’s exposure to people in one of the most creative, diverse, multicultural and dynamic cities in the world. Farhat has selected words, in the form of cast red dyed polymer resin, from philosophers and poets including Byron, Fitzgerald, Nietzsche, Pushkin, Li Bai, Rumi and Omar Khayyam, to wrap the K-6 kiosk as a three dimensional installation of these words.
“Out of the Box” is being presented by Matalan.
Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery and patron of the BT ArtBox project, has said: “The Gilbert Scott telephone box is a truly iconic British design, and I’m looking forwards to seeing how artists and designers transform the replica boxes into works of art on London’s streets.”
Esther Rantzen OBE, founder of ChildLine and patron of the BT ArtBox project, has said: “I’m thrilled that ChildLine’s 25th birthday is to be celebrated by such a unique and inspiring project as BT Artbox. “The red phone box is a much loved symbol of British culture and I’m keen to see how the artists involved will create new masterpieces from such an iconic canvas. It’s fantastic that the proceeds from the sale of the boxes will raise vital funds to support the work of ChildLine, enabling us to help many more children and young people to get comfort, advice and protection when they need it most.”
on line auction: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/btartbox/m.html?
