Even if you actually wanted to make a call from this payphone it would be very difficult to communicate with another human. Audio coming through the earpiece of this landline payphone (718-424-2798) at 82nd Place & 63rd Avenue in Queens was completely subsumed by the sound of Radio Disney. These unintended analogue overlaps, reminiscent of the difficulties sometimes encountered when trying to pinpoint a particular shortwave or AM radio station, are not so common in the digital age. The gray, monochrome sound of the landline places an extra layer of ruggedness over the already tinny sound of Radio Disney’s AM radio signal. I find a certain enchantment in the experience of sound transformed by its transmission through the raspy, low-quality medium of landline public telephones.
Radio Interference, Payphone Style
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