FYM INSPIRATION: PAY PHONES

For many years, FYM's Art Director (Jesse Thomas Codling) has had an obsessive fascination with phone booths and pay phones. They are cultural icons, romanticized by music, movies and television, slowly submitting to new social norms, and the decay that follows. Recently through the collective-unconscious a childhood friend/writer/artist, Carisa Franks, shared a thoughtful description of this death of technology, as found below one of our favorite photos Jesse has taken over the years:

Today I went to the grocery store. 

I walked through the 'woosh!' 

Of the automatic doors...

And into the long vestibule. 

I saw it. 

Hanging on a dingy wall. 

Want ads hanging around it 

Like a gaggle of fruit flies. 

Covered in dust, dirt, and grime. 

Looking lost and sad. 

For a split second-I thought I saw 

A small rain cloud hovering over it. 

The wear and dullness of its: 

Black Matte Finish -

suggested, It was used frequently 

In the prime of it's life. 

Now, it hung lifeless and untouched.

I almost felt sad for it. 

A relic. An antique. 

A forgotten time. 

-ode to pay phone by carisa

Carisa's description does a lovely job pointing out the beauty in such a nostalgic symbol that's fading fast. It shows how awareness to our surroundings, even towards the most humble aspects, can give us joy. And that to FYM, is truly inspiring. Thanks to Carisa for sharing. 

And in honor of our current topic here is the opening to 'Get Smart' the TV series (which we used to watch obsessively on Nick at Nite re-runs).