Area Code is a self-guided, self-paced walking tour through San Francisco using the public telephone. Participants pick up maps indicating locations of specific phone booths, and then call from these booths to hear a pre-recorded message, in the form of a fictional letter.

This letter form references the lettersheets which were a popular form of communication during the Gold Rush in California. Typical lettersheets had current events depicted on a sheet of paper upon which the letter writer would add his or her own personal message, not unlike today?s postcards. The aural lettersheets in Area Code evoke the historical significance of the place where the telephone booth is located, and reference contemporary social issues.

Medium:  sound mix, voicemail system on computer, public telephone booths, private telephones, maps

Date:  1994