Hotline (2020 - present)

24-hour toll-free hotline


Hotline is an artwork that takes the form of a phone number: (866) 696-0940.  The number is live and able to receive calls 24 hours a day. (International callers: if the toll-free number does not work on your phone, try using Skype.)



From sex hotlines, crisis hotlines, psychic hotlines, to tip hotlines, the anonymous telephone call is a poignant example of intimacy without proximity. But what makes the line “hot”? What kinds of things do we ask each other, confess to each other, or create with each other in the absence of an image? What kind of connection does the face preclude and the voice allow?  Call, choose from set options, and leave a message if you want to.  Stay anonymous. Your message will be made public as documentation of the piece.


Scan or click on the QR codes below to listen to the messages collected so far:


Hotline was presented by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation as part of their Performance-in-Place series, and A.I.R. Gallery as part of their 2019-20 Artist Fellowship Program.  From October 15 – November 16, 2020, Hotline was on view as a physical exhibition at A.I.R. Gallery.


Press:

Hotline: Aliza Shvarts in Conversation with Sara Reisman. Performance-in-Place Series. The 8th Floor/Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation. NYC (2020). https://www.the8thfloor.org/past-events-01/2020/5/14/performance-in-place-hotline-by-aliza-shvarts


Charlotte Kent, "Phreaking the Hotline: Aliza Shvarts," CLOT Magazine, 28 October 2020:

https://www.clotmag.com/oped/phreaking-hotline-aliza-shvarts-by-charlotte-kent

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