The Hard Call Home, 2024
Sculpture & Augmented Reality
30.5 x 30.5 x 83 in
Please use QR Code or visit link to open viewing. Once linked, place art in the phone booth to expand your experience. Personal cellular WIFI required.
Video available at kylemepps.com
"The Hard Call Home" is an augmented reality (AR) sculpture that uses the powerful symbol of a 1950s pay phone to explore the complex and often painful relationship between Black communities and the American medical system. Through AR technology, viewers are invited to witness people making their hard call home, highlighting the desperation, resilience, and determination of Black individuals and families who have historically faced systemic racism and discrimination in healthcare.
During the era of segregation, Black patients were frequently denied access to quality medical care, confined to separate and underfunded facilities, or outright refused treatment. The AR sculpture evokes this period, showing the pay phone as a lifeline to the few Black medical professionals or community networks that provided critical support when mainstream healthcare institutions failed them. It captures the anxiety and fear experienced by Black families as they made calls for help, often knowing that due to racial prejudice, assistance could be delayed, inadequate, or denied entirely.
The AR experience also underscores the financial burdens historically faced by Black families seeking healthcare. In an era marked by economic hardship due to systemic discrimination and limited opportunities, even making a call for medical assistance came with a financial cost. The AR sculpture highlights this additional barrier, reminding viewers that every call required money, which many families could scarcely afford.
Moreover, the sculpture reflects the experiences of Black medical students and professionals who have carried the hopes and dreams of their communities. The AR elements bring to life the moments when these individuals were forced to make difficult calls home, sharing the devastating news that their aspirations of becoming doctors were cut short by systemic racism within medical education. It also portrays Black healthcare professionals making the agonizing call to the families of patients lost to negligence or bias by white colleagues.
Audio Recording of VA Residents w/ music by Kyle M Epps
Throughout the AR experience, partial recordings play from oral histories, such as interviews with Jesse Lee Hatcher (Ararat, VA, 1977-1981), Dr. Vivian W. Pinn (Strathmore, MD, 2007), Ray Bell (Charlottesville, VA, 1980), and Aunt Phoebe Boyd (Dunnsville, VA, 1935). These voices add texture to the sculpture, grounding it in lived Black experiences that echo through history. These narratives extend to contemporary issues illustrated by the tragic death of Irvo Otieno; a 28-year-old Black man who died on March 6, 2023, at Central State Hospital, a state mental health facility in Virginia. Through AR, the sculpture connects past and present, emphasizing the ongoing issues of racial injustice and systemic failures in healthcare and the criminal justice systems.
To further explore the historical context of Central State Hospital and its impact on Black communities, we encourage you to visit our accompanying exhibition. This exhibition provides a comprehensive examination of Black experiences in medicine in Virginia, highlighting the enduring legacy of systemic inequities and the continuing fight for justice and equity in healthcare.