Joe Barillaro' s work with dioramas and interest in painting, photography, murals and graffiti all emerge in this box.
"As a maker of dioramas, I immediately thought the phone box
project was a perfect match for me. My phone box, like much of my art, uses mostly reclaimed building materials and vintage textiles. I love to find beautiful, discarded materials, and repurposing them through art, thus giving them new life.
The phone box project itself seems to have been inspired by the same spirit. My phone box is a diorama showing a decorative, imaginary urban landscape. I built a custom sized box that fit snuggly into the empty box. The elements inside developed from there. After composing a solid composition and structure to the piece, I made broad color and design choices, that eventually led to subtle details for the patient and curious viewer to discover. The result is a very modern piece of art that utilizes colors and materials I believe to be ageless. Although it is playful and somewhat lighthearted, I worked hard to create something of museum quality. Of course like all artists involved in this project, making something to withstand the elements of Somerville streets also had to be considered.
Although I have made similar works in the past, I never imagined such pieces to exist in an outdoor space. I hope to see it stay in place for public viewing for a long time to come."