Salvador Dali

Cybernetic Lobster Telephone

"This is an aesthetic variation of the telephone. It will contain organic or radioactive substances in telephonic form. Televised pictures of what we are saying will appear on the dial. We will not have to speak into this phone. We have only to think to transmit. We can transmit not only ideas and words, but emotions. The lobster is used here in a symbolic way. The lobster is an organic substance with many feelers."

 

Though a lobster on a telephone might at first seem ridiculous, surprisingly is more than just amusing. Symbolically this work moves beyond the Surrealist impulse of absurdity and touches on the connection between food, sex and communication. Lobsters and telephones had strong sexual undertone for Dali who drew a close analogy between food and sex throughout his work.

This work is part of the "Imagination and Objects of the Future" portfolio, which is full of Dalí's fantastical creations of futuristic luxuries and extravagances. The suite of 10 dry point etchings combined with lithography and collage were inspired by his extensive research on a variety of scientific topics, including physics, biology, and arithmetic. These encompass the concept of Dali imagining himself as the 20th century Leonardo da Vinci, giving to the world what he imagined the future would hold.