ProjectApril 23, 2020
Pablo Helguera, Singing Telegrams
Pablo Helguera, amid the crisis generated by COVID-19, proposes a new project entitled “Pablo Helguera: The Grand Central Singing Telegram Co.” developed in collaboration with Sana Ana’s Grand Central Art Center, where the artist was a resident last year.
This idea came to him when the new coronavirus swept through New York City in March. Plans to launch it last month were suspended when he fell ill with COVID-19 himself. (He was never tested, but said he suffered from many of the disease’s characteristics, such as fever, loss of smell, and extreme exhaustion).
Now in the process of recovery, he hopes to sing to as many people as possible, the project will run until May the 28th. “We are eager to connect with others,” he said. “It is a moment of great pain where we are trying to understand the heaviness that we all feel every day.”
“We are all isolated in our homes, and we are trying to think of things that can help people and help ourselves because we are going crazy in this isolation.”
He plans to dress up as a former Western Union worker when he delivers his Zoom serenades. Participants can choose from 30 songs. The repertoire ranges from “Rigoletto” to ranchero songs,’ The Sound of Music’ and ‘West Side Story’. “
He’s not an opera singer, he joked, but it’s available, and it’s free.
The concept is an expansion of a project he did in 2001 at an art festival. He simply offered to call the participants’ friends to deliver a message with a song. He was going to do it for only 30 minutes, but he grew so much that he stayed in eight hours.
To be part of the art experiment, send an email to grandcentral@fullerton.edu. The coordinators will then send you a form to complete as you were sending a telegram or a cable.
“I was so grateful for the concern and messages from people that I want to return,” Helguera said on the time he was ill. “I think we all want to try to help in the best possible way, with the best resources available to us.”
This idea came to him when the new coronavirus swept through New York City in March. Plans to launch it last month were suspended when he fell ill with COVID-19 himself. (He was never tested, but said he suffered from many of the disease’s characteristics, such as fever, loss of smell, and extreme exhaustion).
Now in the process of recovery, he hopes to sing to as many people as possible, the project will run until May the 28th. “We are eager to connect with others,” he said. “It is a moment of great pain where we are trying to understand the heaviness that we all feel every day.”
“We are all isolated in our homes, and we are trying to think of things that can help people and help ourselves because we are going crazy in this isolation.”
He plans to dress up as a former Western Union worker when he delivers his Zoom serenades. Participants can choose from 30 songs. The repertoire ranges from “Rigoletto” to ranchero songs,’ The Sound of Music’ and ‘West Side Story’. “
He’s not an opera singer, he joked, but it’s available, and it’s free.
The concept is an expansion of a project he did in 2001 at an art festival. He simply offered to call the participants’ friends to deliver a message with a song. He was going to do it for only 30 minutes, but he grew so much that he stayed in eight hours.
To be part of the art experiment, send an email to grandcentral@fullerton.edu. The coordinators will then send you a form to complete as you were sending a telegram or a cable.
“I was so grateful for the concern and messages from people that I want to return,” Helguera said on the time he was ill. “I think we all want to try to help in the best possible way, with the best resources available to us.”
