Helena Keeffe

"Talking to Neighbors: Jim in West Oakland"
A telephone-based social sculpture by Helena Keeffe

Call to listen: 510-451-1489 (International calls dial 001-510-451-1489)
Accessible through January 15, 2008

In an unusual twist on the notion of site-specificity, Helena Keeffe interviewed longtime West Oakland resident and neighbor Jim Edgar about living in this neighborhood since 1939.  The interview is accessible by calling the landline telephone number registered to the Invisible Venue project space.

  An extension of this collaboration with Invisible Venue was the reclamation of a disused telephone booth halfway between the house and the West Oakland Bart Station, on the edge of an undeveloped lot on Seventh Street. A notice about Jim Edgar's interview was placed where a telephone had previously hung after the booth was cleaned and freshly painted.

Helena Keeffe regularly investigates social engagement as a method of art production.  Rooted in the ephemeral, her work rarely takes form as an object but rather as personal interactions that are conveyed through documentation.  Keeffe is currently involved in a public art project for the City of San Jose and has previously been the recipient of grants from Josh Greene’s Service Works Grants and The San Francisco Art Commission.  She lives and works in West Oakland.

To view artist's portfolio and to listen to "Talking to Neighbors: Jim in West Oakland 2007," visit www.helenakeeffe.com