Death of a Phone Booth (2006)

3D Sculpture made with a telephone box, pickax, and red paint

Death of a Phone Booth (2006)

Dimensions unknown

The crooked, red telephone booth appeared overnight on a street in Soho, London. Dark red paint seemingly oozed down the side of its frame and an axe held on firmly to its platform to look as if someone had actually attacked it. The sculpture quickly caught the attention of pedestrians, and spectators claim that two groups were eventually formed - one being those who were in awe of the amazing artwork while the other was composed with those who had denounced the sculpture as mere vandalism. Still, much conversation had been generated from this presentation which only settled in the area for a short period of time before getting removed by the Westminister Council. The unorthodox showcase in Soho even propelled British Telecommunications (BTs), the company that owned the phone booth, to weigh in on the situation. According to "New York Times" (2006), a BT’s spokesperson has said; “This is a stunning visual comment on BT's transformation from an old-fashioned telecoms company into a modern communications services provider.”  (para. Calling All Conceptual Artists) —communicating their amusement and appreciation of this piece. 

A number of different theories have spurred from this particular sculpture in an attempt to assign meaning to the artwork. However, one popular conjecture is that the sculpture signifies the demise of past communication mechanisms, such as the telephone (booth), as we enter a new and dynamic world of communication. The existence of the telephone booth has undeniably become non-existent in the past decade and traditional home telephone systems are slowly being pushed out as well. Hence this understanding is a mere assumption, thus confirmation of its context still rest in the hands of Banksy.