24 Hours of Radio Art - “pls. leave a message after the tone” by Eleanor Wearing

Since its invention in the 1970s, voicemail has gone through a broad fluctuation in popularity. What was perhaps once seen as a convenient and time-saving function of the telephone is now massively regarded as an annoying and cumbersome way to get a message to someone. This is likely due in-part to the rise of text messaging as many people’s primary method of communication. But what have we lost in this shift? Is there any value to having small recorded pockets of someone’s voice, regardless of whether the message sent is inane or important? This piece is a collection of sounds and voicemails from the CiTR Radio and Discorder Magazine main office line, from 2016-2018.