Mary Krebs Smith
"Ma Bell Transformed"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
My aunt and mother came to Chicago in the 1920’s from a rural area in central Illinois and in time found employment in Wilmette with Illinois Bell (AT&T), answering calls at the switchboard. They remained and retired after each had served forty-five years of service. I succumbed to working for AT&T for a short time as well in the early 1960’s.
Communication has transformed from the 3-party line to everybody’s on board with everyone else’s business (more than I personally care to know about). Indeed, what have we gained and what have we lost? Will today’s young people remember how to speak to each other? Observing body language and hearing the inflection of the human voice: Are these things of the past?
My mask, adorned with trinkets received for service to AT&T, reflects the change from earlier days to the current age of the computer, email, texts, web pages, Facebook, Skype etc. It also reflects my family’s traditions and experience. My frustration, ineptness, and disconnect with the new way of personal and impersonal methods of communication is expressed through the materials I used to create my work.