Daniel Beltz: “I decided to buy a cell phone for God and to invite people to beep him.”

May 25th, 2008
Africa, beeping/miss calls

The Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco is wrapping up what seems to be a fascinating exposition, AFRICA.Dot.COM: From Drums to Digital.   (if you are in the area – rush down this week!). The exhibit

explores the changing landscape of communication and connectivity in Africa today…It begins with drums and other varied instruments and masked performances that African cultures have utilized for centuries in dynamic, multisensory forms of coded communication executed to transmit sonant salutations, local history, beliefs and social values. Today, mobile phones, computers, and information and communication technologies (ICTS) provide increasingly enhanced and altered networks and connections in African villages and cities. As with drumming, coded signals are used in cell phone text messages and computer instant messaging. Themes of technology appear on fabrics used for clothing. E-mail marketing and cyber cafes are becoming a part of everyday life in urban areas. Artists are sharing ideas across cultural borders, developing creative partnerships, and reaching audiences thousands of miles away…Africa.Dot.Com searches out these uses of technology in the art and social life of the first digital generation in Africa.

Among the pieces on display is Beepez-le! by Daniel Peltz.  It is a wonderful exploration of the beeping/flashing phenomenon, as experienced in Cameroon.  Do watch the lengthy video, touching on everything from the reappropriation of a western technology, to the implications of mediated communication with the divine.  Peltz says:

I built a simple live feed installation that used a camera, a video projector and cell phone to project God’s cell phone screen onto a wall in the city when he was beeped.  I installed it on the street next to two luan and chalk signs, similar to those I’d found in the market.  They read:

Voici en exclusivite   [here it is]
le numero de Dieu     [God’s private number]
597-20-24
Beepez-le!   [Beep him!]

Thanks so much to the reader who was familiar with the exposition in San Francisco and alerted me to it – sorry it took me so long to post this.

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