Your Call Could Not Be Connected, Please Check The Number And Try To Call [Metrobot] Again

Pay phones have become a rare breed these days, but you can still find one at the base of a Cincinnati landmark. This is the tale of how a social media post inspired some photography that lead to the story of a sculpture and intersections of local history.

- "Metrobot" being installed in 1988. Image via Pinterest

In 1988, the City of Cincinnati was celebrating its Bicentennial while the local Contemporary Arts Center celebrated its golden anniversary. To commemorate 50 years, local businessman Albert Vontz Jr. donated a gift, one that wasn't just significant in the art world, but one that would also become a Cincinnati icon. “Metrobot,” a 26 ft. (or 27 ft., depending on the source) sculpture created by renown artist Nam June Paik, was installed on 5th St. directly in front of the CAC’s previous location and across from the public bus terminals at Government Square.

- Another Nam June Paik sculpture, "Four Decades," as seen at the nearby Dayton Art Institute in August 2016.

Born in Seoul in 1932, Nam June Paik grew up in an affluent family, training as a classical pianist. He found himself in Japan, later graduating from the University of Tokyo just a few years after his family had fled the Korean War. His studies in composition and music history brought him to West Germany where he collaborated with prominent musicians and artists, himself becoming a member of Fluxus in 1962. As part of the experimental group who revolutionized the art world by combining several disciplines with new forms of media, Paik grew to be considered the founder of video art after relocating to New York. Initially experimenting with combinations of classical music and performance art synched with multimedia presentations, he eventually began experimenting with sculpture. His physical installations often feature themes that reflect his interpretations of Americas’s obsession with mass media, communication, and technology. His use of the term “super highway” leads many to believe that he was the first person to coin the phrase “Information Superhighway.” He often wrote on the future of technologies such as television and the early stages of the Internet.

- "Metrobot" in its original location. Image via Pinterest

“Metrobot” debuted featuring neon lights, television screens, and radio parts embedded in its body. The sculpture wasn’t just a unique showpiece commissioned from one of the 20th Century’s most important artists, it also served a function. The electronic message board on its arm promoted the Contemporary Arts Center and a payphone embedded in its leg made it a communication device as well. Paik had created the sculpture to be what he thought someone in the 1950’s might envision a futuristic robot to look like had it been made of radio and television parts.

Often the target of graffiti and with many of its electronic features deteriorated, “Metrobot” looked worse for wear after standing guard on 5th St. for nearly 21 years. The electric smile and heart were rarely illuminated, the message board frozen or blank, and the television’s no longer broadcasting Paik’s video art. The CAC itself had relocated nearby to its current architecturally significant home in 2003. By 2009, “Metrobot” was dismantled and placed into storage. Paik suffered a stroke in 1996 that left much of his left side paralyzed. Despite this, he still produced significant works of art before passing away from complications in 2006.

The giant art robot seemed to be destined for the dustbin of Cincinnati urban legend and eclectic history. However, in 2014, “Metrobot” returned. Thanks to the generosity of Albert Vontz III (son of the original benefactor) and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, the installation can now be found at the corner of 6th and Walnut Streets, once again in front of the Contemporary Arts Center.

- "Metrobot" lives again in his new location at the corner of 6th and Walnut Streets.

When he re-debuted, the robot had received substantial upgrades. His surface was washed and treated, newly installed LED boards replaced the original bulb message board and promotional messages. Metrobot now extols the CAC, displaying messages 24/7.

- "Metrobot" being washed in September 2016.

Local artist Tom Strohmaier led the restoration and upgrades, one of which was the reactivation of Metrobot’s payphone, where calls were only 10 cents. Despite being rededicated in an age where handheld smartphones have left most pay phones as relics of the past or as empty plastic shells on the roadside, the phone found in “Metrobot’s” leg maintained part of the installation’s original function.

- Payphone at the base of "Metrobot."

These days, many of Paik’s creations have taken on a fresh interpretation, with their installed pieces of technology now seen as more “historic” or “vintage” features rather than “futuristic.” The pay phone was a nice callback to the sculpture’s original design and a past way of communicating. On more than one occasion after “Metrobot’s” return, I remember walking past people utilizing the payphone to have heated conversations, call for a ride, or catch up with a friend.

I always liked the sculpture in its sad, deactivated state. I was sad to see it go and happy to see it reborn. While I’ve passed him on a nearly daily basis over the past year, I can’t say I paid him much mind, though. I’m obsessive about keeping my phone charged and never had the need to utilize the communication device at his base. While recently scrolling through Instagram on a device that made pay phones nearly obsolete, I came across a great photograph by the account known as @lostsanjose. It was a simple detail shot of payphone, dirty from years of wear and emblazoned with graffiti.

- Image via @LostSanJose

I started thinking of where any similar phones might be found in Cincinnati and immediately “Metrobot” came to mind. So the next day, I walked over to him while waiting for my bus. I wanted to pick up the phone, deposit my dime, and call my cell phone. I thought it’d be cool to have the personal phone number of “Metrobot” saved as a contact. Maybe, if I was ever bored, I’d call down to the sculpture on Walnut St. and see if anyone had some good conversation to share, similar to what was once done with the Mojave Desert phone booth. I was dismayed to find that the receiver seemed broken and when placing the phone to my ear, there was no dial tone. There wasn’t even any loose change in the return slot.

I snapped some photographs and tweeted at Cincinnati Bell (who previously operated pay phones in the city) and the Contemporary Arts Center:

Their response:

I tried following up with both organizations formally over the next few days. Cincinnati Bell did eventually tweet back that they no longer own or maintain pay phones in the city any longer. As of this writing, I haven't heard from the CAC.

Given that Paik’s sculpture has already been heavily modified from its original iteration, I don’t think it’d be wholly inappropriate to modify the old phone for a more modern use. Maybe it could be turned into a wifi hotspot similar to former pay phones in New York, a place to charge mobile devices, or a recording device where you could leave a message for the next person who passes by who then records their own.

Nevertheless, while “Metrobot” has once again returned as an iconic Queen City landmark, it doesn't look like he’ll be making or receiving calls anytime soon.

Some other cool things learned while putting this piece together that intersect with other QC/D stories:

• Another local institution, the Cincinnati Art Museum, also has a Nam June Paik sculpture. It’s a 1992 piece depicting a robot made exclusively from Crosley products. The Crosley Corporation pioneered television and radio as the brainchild of local icon Powel Crosley, Jr. Many of the products featured in the sculpture were probably manufactured at the abandoned factory that was documented on QC/D several times in the early years. 

• Notable local artist, curator, and art dealer Carl Solway often helped Paik fabricate and sell his sculptures. Carl's father oncer operated a well known furniture company at Findlay Market. After his father’s passing, when Carl was unable to continue the family furniture business, he sold it. The company’s former warehouse has long since been repurposed, but a fading advertisement declaring the Solway name still stands. That “ghost sign” was featured in my 2015 book and I had the opportunity to interview Carl and feature his words prominently in one chapter. He was an incredible person to chat with. 

• While the Contemporary Arts Center now exists in its own freestanding location that was once called “the best new building since the Cold War,” it previously existed within space at several notable landmarks beforehand: the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Taft Museum of Art, 608 Main St. (assumed to be the historic Gwynn Building), the Carew Tower, the Women’s Exchange building on 4th St., and the Mercantile Center on Fifth Street (where “Metrobot” debuted).

Update | June 18, 2018:

• Metrobot's phone is still broken.