April 2009
Visitors to Omaha's Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts can now be treated to a new exhibition literally built on Dex. The exhibition titled ‘(402) DisConnect/ReConnect,’ reuses thousands of Dex Yellow Pages and white pages directories to visually illustrate the city's telecommunications history and connect residents with each other.
The exhibition, created by artist Matthew Dehaemers, features Dex telephone directories built as sculptures that pay homage to and recreate various tools, buildings and more–all of which have ties to communication.
For example, one facet of the exhibition features a ‘telethon room,’ built out of directories, where a team of volunteers is using the Dex white pages directories to reach out to Omaha residents.
The team intends to make 100,000 phone calls to individuals throughout the city, offering affirming thoughts and asking simple questions that ties the individuals to the local community. The exhibition is scheduled to run until May 16.
"Our goal at Dex has always been to provide consumers with tools to help them connect with one another," said Ric Jensen, regional marketing manager, Dex.
"Mr. Dehaemer's exhibition perfectly captures the spirit of this. We're proud to participate in '(402) DisConnect/ReConnect' and, in the process, further help support the Omaha community."
"This ambitious exhibit would not have been possible without the support of many organizations and individuals," said Hesse McGraw, curator, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.
"Dex, in particular, literally helped provide the building blocks for the exhibit. Without them an exhibit of this size would not have been possible. We're grateful for their support."
All directories utilized in this project will be recycled through a partnership between the Council Bluffs Recycling Center and Dex at the conclusion of the exhibit.
All Dex directories use environmentally-friendly inks and dyes and are comprised of paper containing 25 per cent post consumer recycled materials. No trees are cut down in the production of Dex directories.
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