The Guardian tells us today about a “unique work of art” that “invites viewers to phone a glacier in Iceland – and listen to its death throes, live, through a microphone submerged deep in the bitterly cold lagoon.” The weatherproof microphone thus “relays the splashes, creaks and groans as great masses of melting ice sheer off and crash into the water.” You just have to call the following number: +44 (0) 7758 225698 (a British mobile phone – non-Brits, beware huge long-distance fees!) to “make direct contact with the polar icecap.” (Live until June 13)

However, the article warns us: “Only one caller at a time can get through: [artist Katie] Paterson recommends the small hours of the morning.” So, if you’re extremely rich and cursed with insomnia, you can always lull yourself to sleep, sitting up at 3am near the kitchen window with your telephone pressed hard against your ear, listening to the groan of distant glaciers… I tried to get through a few hours ago, but dialed the wrong number – connecting instead to the subterranean roar of Mt. Hood. Perhaps there should be a telephone directory for natural phenomena.

(Thanks, Alex! Earlier on BLDGBLOG: To eavesdrop on breaking glaciers from within and When landscapes sing: or, London Instrument). [posted by Geoff Manaugh on BLDGBLOG]