Voicemail No. 1 — Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir

Voicemail No. 1: For Five Voices
2026
Installation for five manipulated telephones
4:30 on loop, one working voicemail on a landline

Presented at ‘margins’ in Hafnarborg (IS)
Commissioned by Katrín Björg Gunnarsdóttir and Úlfur Bragi Einarsson

In Voicemail No. 1: for Five Voices, Hildur Elísa takes up this vanishing object, installing five handsets throughout an exhibition/public space. The memory of the telephone now hovers like a ghost through the space: we hear something behind the receiver and, to find out who or what is on the other end of the line, we have to pick up the phone. But instead of a voice or an answer, we hear a part of Hildur's sound piece. Picking up the phone and making a call was once a deeply sincere act that now feels largely lost to us. Hildur invites visitors to experience some of that calm and sincerity: to pick up the receiver, carry it through the space and give themselves time to listen. Until 1 November 2026, you can also call +354 585 5799 and hear the piece in its entirety.

Audio engineering and creative technology by Nathan Marcus
Generously supported by the Mondriaan Fonds

Text by Katrín Njörg Gunnarsdóttir
Photos by Kristín S. Pétursdóttir and Vigfús Birgisson