Artist installs phone link to dying glacier

The creaking and splashing sounds of Europe's largest glacier slipping into an ocean grave are just a phone call away now that an artist has installed a microphone in its surrounding waters.

Glaswegian artist Katie Paterson was moved to set up the line after hallucinating about Iceland's giant Vatnajokull glacier during a bout of fever.

The link encourages people to connect emotionally with the glacier, she told Reuters from her tent on the Icelandic shoreline.

With the help of sponsors, Virgin Mobile and Dolphinear, Paterson was able to drop a hydrophone into the icy lagoon where the glacier is disappearing and pick up the sounds.

The waterproof microphone is linked to a phone and amplifier housed in a tent on land. The work, entitled "Vatnajokull (the sound of)", will continue until June 13. Only one caller at a time can get through, which was deliberate so people can have a "one-to-one beautiful and intimate moment" with the glacier, she said.

Calls to the number, 07758 225698, are charged at international rates.

Link & Image: Reuters
Tags: Art | Phone | Microphone | Glacier