Lobster Telephone (also known as
Aphrodisiac Telephone) is a
surrealist objectSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, created by
Salvador DalíSalvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres....
in 1936 with surrealist artist and patron
Edward JamesEdward William Frank James was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.-Early life and marriage:...
. Dalí wrote of
lobsterClawed lobsters compose a family of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets US$31.8 billion in trade annually....
s and
telephoneThe telephone is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound, most commonly the human voice. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world, and has long been considered indispensable to business, industry and government...
s in his book
The Secret Life, demanding to know why, when he asked for a grilled lobster in a
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, he was never presented with a
telephoneThe telephone is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound, most commonly the human voice. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world, and has long been considered indispensable to business, industry and government...
.
The piece is a
bizarreBizarre may refer to:*Bizarre , solo rapper as well as member of the group D12*Bizarre , a Canadian sketch comedy television series*Bizarre , a sister magazine to The Fortean Times*Bizarre Records, a record label...
composite of an ordinary working telephone and a lobster (made of
plasterThe term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris , lime plaster, or cement plaster. This article deals mainly with plaster of Paris / gypsum plaster....
).
Lobster Telephone (also known as
Aphrodisiac Telephone) is a
surrealist objectSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, created by
Salvador DalíSalvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres....
in 1936 with surrealist artist and patron
Edward JamesEdward William Frank James was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.-Early life and marriage:...
. Dalí wrote of
lobsterClawed lobsters compose a family of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets US$31.8 billion in trade annually....
s and
telephoneThe telephone is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound, most commonly the human voice. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world, and has long been considered indispensable to business, industry and government...
s in his book
The Secret Life, demanding to know why, when he asked for a grilled lobster in a
restaurantA restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, he was never presented with a
telephoneThe telephone is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sound, most commonly the human voice. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world, and has long been considered indispensable to business, industry and government...
.
The piece is a
bizarreBizarre may refer to:*Bizarre , solo rapper as well as member of the group D12*Bizarre , a Canadian sketch comedy television series*Bizarre , a sister magazine to The Fortean Times*Bizarre Records, a record label...
composite of an ordinary working telephone and a lobster (made of
plasterThe term plaster can refer to plaster of Paris , lime plaster, or cement plaster. This article deals mainly with plaster of Paris / gypsum plaster....
). It is approximately 15 × 30 × 17
cmA centimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of...
(6 × 12 × 6.6 inches) in
sizeThe word size may refer to how big something is. In particular:* Measurement* Dimensions: length, width, height, diameter, perimeter, area, volume* Clothing sizes such as shoe size or dress size* Body dimensions**Human height**Human weight...
.
Dalí created this object with the specific intention of aligning the lobster's genitalia with the end of the phone into which one would
speakSpeak can mean:* Speech communication* SPEAK , a Maryland-based organization for suicide prevention* Speak , the Hungarian rap artist and internet phenomenon famous for his anti-war video...
, thus aligning the speaker's
mouthThe mouth, buccal cavity, or oral cavity is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food and begins digestion by mechanically breaking up the solid food particles into smaller pieces and mixing them with saliva...
with the
lobsterClawed lobsters compose a family of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets US$31.8 billion in trade annually....
's genitalia.
Four copies of the full
colorColor or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
object were made. One now appears at the
Dalí UniverseDalí Universe is a permanent exhibition of art works by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí which is housed in a 3,000 square metre suite of galleries at County Hall in London, England. It opened in 2000. Over 500 works are on display, including sculptures dating from 1935-1984, drawings,...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
; the second can be found at the Museum of Telecommunication in
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
; the third belongs to the
Edward JamesEdward William Frank James was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.-Early life and marriage:...
Foundation; and the fourth is at the
National Gallery of AustraliaThe National Gallery of Australia is the premier art gallery and museum in Australia, holding over 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Government of Australia as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
.
There were also six all-
white White is a color, the perception which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
versions which were produced, one of which is on display at the
Minneapolis Institute of ArtsThe Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...
and one at the
Salvador Dalí MuseumThe Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, houses the largest collection outside Europe of the works of the artist Salvador Dalí and is located on the campus of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg in downtown St. Petersburg.-History:Shortly before marrying in...
in
St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 248,232. As of 2006, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 248,098. The 2007...
.