BT Artbox - Dial M for Monster
The BT Artbox Story
The good old British phone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to commemorate King
George V's Silver Jubilee.
This year we’ve got a Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 to look forward to, so we decided we needed to do something to celebrate.
That something turned into BT ArtBox. It’s a campaign that thrives on the nation’s artistic talent.
Across London’s streets you’ll find replicas of the Gilbert Scott phone box, transformed by the
imaginations of some of our very best creative minds.
Then later on we’ll be auctioning all the boxes off to raise money for ChildLine’s 25th anniversary.
“Dial M for Monster”
Artist: Lauren O'Farrell
Location: Trafalgar Square
Dial M for Monster is a cosy handcrafted creature created from around 100 balls of yarn.
He is knitted, crocheted and hand sewn. Making a mere 'cosy' didn't seem quite right for the occasion, so I conjured up a 'stitched something' with a story and Muncher the handmade monster was hatched.
The story behind Dial M for Monster is a sad one:
"Once upon a city there roamed whole herds of London's wild British Phone Box Beasts. These cubic creatures hunted the streets pretending to be a real telephone boxes, in order to trick tasty grown ups who entered the box to make calls (he would never eat a child though, too many small bones). Since the advent of the mobile phone sightings of these boxy beasts have become rare indeed. Muncher is one of the last surviving in London's wild. He's become rather hungry due to lack of callers, so the monster has become a forager. He now survives on the half-eaten kebabs that people sometimes drop by his side on their way home from the pub. Though he does enjoy the occasional pigeon. Burp."
Dial M for Monster will be partly machine knit and partly knit by hand long into the night. He hopes to eat at least 25 grown ups once he is released on to London's streets. One for each year of the Childline Celebrations.