Upon visiting London, I was shocked to see that many of the iconic phone booths were filled with trash and in terrible condition; the tour guide even added that it was not uncommon for drunkards to use them as restrooms upon walking home.  This information left me revolted.  The street artist, Banksy is credited with many different works in various countries and more specifically, his two-dimensional street works.  In 2006, Banksy created a three-dimensional, crumpled phone booth that he strategically placed in the busy streets of Soho, London. At the time that this work appeared, British Telecommunications embraced this work as a visual comment on their transformation from an old-fashioned telecommunications company into a modern communications provider (“London Phone Booth”).  However, Banksy’s depiction of the iconic phone booth being stabbed with a pickaxe seems to suggest a more serious meaning to the sculpture, a meaning or issue that Banksy wants to bring to the viewers’ attentions.  During this time in 2006, Facebook was also expanding beyond college campuses and the use of social media as a form of communication was becoming more widespread (“London Phone Booth”).  Banksy uses the phone booth and how he crumples it and makes it appear dead in order to communicate to the viewers that the older, more personal means of communication are dying with the rise of social media as a means of communication.

Banksy is trying to draw the attention to his message through his use of bright colors and the placement of the phone booth.  In the photograph of his sculpture, the bright red phone booth is placed in the street against a dull, blank wall with nothing around it.  This contrast in color would immediately draw the attention of the people passing by.  The color red could also signify an urgency and a call to either act or pay attention to what Banksy is trying to convey.  The sense of urgency and need for attention is further emphasized with the placement of the phone booth on a busy London street.  If this piece were to be placed on a back road or alleyway, it would be apparent that Banksy would not have wanted many people to see it.  However, Banksy chooses to place the phone booth on a bust street, showing that he intends for people to see his work and get his message.

The use of the phone booth is very significant to the meaning of this sculpture.  The phone booth has long been known as an iconic staple of London culture and lifestyle.  The phone booth is something that is also close to the hearts of many Londoners, making the mutilation of one very significant and eye catching.  Although, upon first glance, this sculpture might appear to be normal and blend in because of how common the sight of a phone booth in the London streets is, the real statement is in the details that might not be as clear at first.  Banksy uses the details to evoke a feelings of sadness to the viewers.  Banksy achieves this sadness by taking a piece of London that is so iconic and distinctive to the history and culture of London and mutilating it.  This remorse that the viewers might feel makes it more apparent that Banksy is trying to bring something to their attention and wants them to do something about it.  Not only does Banksy disfigure the phone booth by making it appear crumpled up and thrown onto its side in the street, but he also places a pickaxe in the side of it.  This could symbolize not only the death of something, but perhaps the “murder” of something.  This adds a much more extreme and dramatic meaning to this sculpture.  To add to this idea of the “murder” of something, Banksy includes blood dripping from the phone booth.  

The blood not only acts to convey the idea of the “murder” of the phone booth, but also personifies the phone booth.  This concept gives the viewer the idea that the “murder” of the phone booth is something more personal.  Banksy’s choice to give the phone booth the human aspect of bleeding also emphasizes the brutality of the “murder”.  This personification of the phone booth not only adds a more dramatic element, but also symbolizes the death of more personal forms of communication. The “murder” of the phone booth symbolizes the end of the old forms of communication, something Banksy is trying to bring to the attention of the viewers.  The pickaxe, in this case, symbolizes the newer forms of social media as a form of communication.  Banksy obviously views the new social media that is emerging as a form of bad communication and wants the viewers to feel the same way he does.

Through his use of the phone booth and how he chooses to display it, Banksy calls the viewers’ attention to the death of the more personal means of communication with the rise of social media. Through the usage of blood, Banksy adds human aspects to an inanimate object, showing that the phone booth’s death, or “murder”, is actually the death of the more personal means of communication.  This “murder” is done by the less personal means of communication, represented by the pickaxe, such as facebook and other forms of social media.  Banksy’s piece shows how art has the power to bring events to the attention of the viewers that they might not have recognized.  
