Today Calls (January)

(2017)

Daily feed at the dedicated project site Today Calls.Website.

Related works: Dial 9 (for NSCAD), Dial 40 (for Art Metropole), Publick, SeptSixUn-QuatreHuitQuatreUn, Stéréophonie, Tue, un jeudi téléphonique.

Texts by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Christof Migone, and Jordan Scott.

Kathryn and Jordan were invited to pick a historical event for every day of the year (from the events that Wikipedia lists for every day). They wrote a response, and in turn, I wrote a response to theirs (plus took account of the prompts they chose).

Today Calls You. Do you answer the call? If so, how and when? Today.

Each day another X appears (January 1: 1, December 31: 365/366).

On the right you see the first month, the links below get you to the other months:
– JANUARY
– FEBRUARY
– MARCH
– APRIL
– MAY
– JUNE
– JULY
– AUGUST
– SEPTEMBER
– OCTOBER
– NOVEMBER
– DECEMBER

The installation version with telephones features the voices of Lauren Cullen, Amy Fung, Francisco-Fernando Granados, Marla Hlady, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Christof Migone, and Niloufar Salimi.

Project made possible thanks to funding provided by the Ontario Arts Council.

​

January 1:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1801 – The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 404 – Telemachus, a Christian monk, is killed for attempting to stop a gladiators’ fight in the public arena held in Rome.

January 2:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football (soccer) match.

January 3:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2002 – Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 2015 – Boko Haram militants raze the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria, with as many as 2,000 people having been killed.

January 4:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.

January 5:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome, Italy.

January 6:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome, Italy.

January 7:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1697 – Last execution for blasphemy in Britain; of Thomas Aikenhead, student, at Edinburgh.

January 8:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2011 – The attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1912 – The African National Congress is founded.

January 9:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.

January 10:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1946 – The United States Army Signal Corps successfully conducts Project Diana, bouncing radio waves off the Moon and receiving the reflected signals.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1863 – The London Underground, the world’s oldest underground railway, opens between London Paddington station and Farringdon station.

January 11:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1949 – A three-day snowfall begins in Los Angeles, California. Accumulations range from a trace near the coast to almost a foot in the San Fernando Valley.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1935 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

January 12:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1918 – Finland’s “Mosaic Confessors” law goes into effect, making Finnish Jews full citizens.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1971 – All in the Family an American sitcom premiered on the CBS television network.

January 13:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople.

January 14:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1639 – The “Fundamental Orders”, the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1539 – Spain annexes Cuba.

January 15:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1933 – A 12-year-old girl experiences the first Marian apparition of Our Lady of Banneux in Banneux, Belgium.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (left). Prompt: 1976 – Gerald Ford’s would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.

January 16:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1991 – The Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time).
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1909 – Ernest Shackleton’s expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.

January 17:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2007 – The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1945 – The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.

January 18:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1778 – James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands”.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1884 – Dr. William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the United Kingdom.

January 19:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1893 – Henrik Ibsen’s play The Master Builder receives its premiere performance in Berlin.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1661 – Thomas Venner is hanged, drawn and quartered in London. 1953 – Almost 72% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.

January 20:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2006 – Witnesses report seeing a bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.

January 21:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

January 22:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1521 – Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1968 – Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.

January 23:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2001 – Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1846 – Slavery in Tunisia is abolished.

January 24:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

January 25:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1792 – The London Corresponding Society is founded.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1981 – Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death.

January 26:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2004 – A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1531 – The 1531 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.

January 27:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1984 – Pop singer Michael Jackson suffers second degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in the Shrine Auditorium.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1880 – Thomas Edison receives the patent on the incandescent lamp.

January 28:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1887 – In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes are reported, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 2010 – Five murderers of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh are hanged.

January 29:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2013 – A gunman kills a school bus driver and holds a 6-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker in Midland City, Alabama.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1967 – The “ultimate high” of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.

January 30:

​Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 2000 – Off the coast of Ivory Coast, Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 169.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1790 – The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.

January 31:

Text by Jordan Scott (left). Prompt: 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
Text by Christof Migone (center). Prompts: texts by Jordan and Kathryn plus the prompts they chose.
Text by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (right). Prompt: 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.

JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
– JUNE