Enorme Telephone

1986

Not on view

The Enorme telephone was the result of a collaboration between Sottsass and his friend David Kelley, founder of the design firm IDEO. Sottsass created the conceptual design, and Kelley and his team were responsible for the engineering and detail design. To produce the telephone, the two formed the Enorme Corporation with a third friend, Jean Pigozzi. As a play on the name of the telephone, Sottsass drew a sumo wrestler to use as a corporate logo (against the designer Shiro Kuramata’s advice that the wrestler in this context exploited a Japanese stereotype). Like the Valentine typewriter, the Enorme added an element of joy to what was considered a purely utilitarian object.

Artwork Details

Overview

Inscriptions and Markings

Provenance

Title: Enorme Telephone
Artist: Ettore Sottsass (Italian (born Austria), Innsbruck 1917–2007 Milan)
Designer: David Kelley
Date: 1986
Medium: ABS polymer casing, silicone rubber buttons
Dimensions: Overall: 2 1/2 × 7 5/8 × 4 in., 1.4 lb. (6.4 × 19.4 × 10.2 cm, 0.6 kg)
a - phone: 2 3/16 × 7 1/2 × 1 7/8 in., 0.6 lb. (5.6 × 19.1 × 4.8 cm, 0.3 kg)
b - base: 1 1/2 × 4 3/8 × 4 7/16 in., 0.7 lb. (3.8 × 11.1 × 11.3 cm, 0.3 kg)
c - cord (APPROX.): 20 in., 0.1 lb. (50.8 cm)
Classification: Plastic
Credit Line: Gift of David M. Kelley and Jean Pigozzi, 2017
Object Number: 2017.170.2a–c
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

By David Kelley

By Ettore Sottsass

From the same time and place

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"I Designed It For Pitagora" Desk, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Brier-wood and pear-wood veneers, marble, painted wood — "I Designed It For Pitagora" Desk
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"Murmansk" Fruit Dish, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Silver — "Murmansk" Fruit Dish
Ettore Sottsass
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"Miss, Don't You Like Caviar?" Armchair, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Wood and chromed steel — "Miss, Don't You Like Caviar?" Armchair
Ettore Sottsass
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"The Structures Tremble", Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Plastic laminate, composition board, painted steel, rubber, glass — "The Structures Tremble"
Ettore Sottsass
Studio Alchymia
1979

"Ivory" Table, Ettore Sottsass Italian, born Austria, Formica, wood, glass — "Ivory" Table
Ettore Sottsass
Memphis Milano
1985

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