With the current world situation, a large demand for video chats and voice calls via the Internet has popped up. Many are now working and studying from home for the first time. However, meet-ups via telecommunication are not a new idea, this idea and the corresponding technology has been flying around from the 1870s with services of the “party line” or telephone conference calls. A party line is a local loop telephone circuit that is shared by multiple telephone service subscribers. Party line systems were widely used to provide telephone service, starting with the first commercial switchboards in 1878.
Tonight, during “ Century 21 Calling - Party Line”, we are going to explore the concept via the internet. Join us for the first-ever streamed Century 21 Calling screening and Varia's very own party line. There will be films about the party line and telephone communication, from across the street, to the other side of the world.
Century 21 Calling is a series of screenings initiated by the Save_as collective and hosted at Varia in Rotterdam. Together, we take a look at the archival industrial films, corporate infomercials, tv reports and historical documentary of yesterday that shaped the imagination of tomorrow and hold it up to the light of the present.
This is an experiment, so expect possible technical issues.
