Pay Phone Connects LA's Poorest and Wealthiest Neighborhoods
Matter Neuroscience, which touts itself as the world's first emotional fitness club, has installed a unique pay phone linking Watts, a low-income area in Los Angeles, to Venice, the city's affluent neighborhood. The phone in Watts, located at the Martin Luther King Junior Shopping Center, reads "Call the 1%," while the Venice phone, found on Abbot Kinney Boulevard near a pricey store with $2,200 chairs and $800 sweatpants, says "Call the 99%." This project aims to spark conversations between these rarely connected communities, highlighting that happiness-related brain chemicals are accessible to everyone, regardless of wealth. The initial chat, shared on Instagram, revolved around weekend plans. Matter Neuroscience hopes to promote connections, showing that positive talks can lower cortisol and elevate dopamine, cannabinoids, and oxytocin.
Key facts
- Matter Neuroscience installed a pay phone connecting Watts and Venice in Los Angeles.
- The phone in Watts is labeled 'Call the 1%' and located at the Martin Luther King Junior Shopping Center on Compton Avenue.
- The phone in Venice is labeled 'Call the 99%' and located on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.
- The Venice location is near a furniture store selling $2,200 chairs and $800 sweatpants.
- The project aims to highlight that happiness-related brain molecules are the same regardless of economic status.
- Recorded conversations are shared on Instagram; the first showed an awkward exchange about weekends.
- Matter Neuroscience describes itself as the world's first emotional fitness club.
- The project cites research that positive conversations can lower cortisol and increase dopamine, cannabinoids, and oxytocin.
Entities
Institutions
- Matter Neuroscience
- Economic Policy Institute
- Martin Luther King Junior Shopping Center
Locations
- Los Angeles
- Watts
- Venice
- Compton Avenue
- Abbot Kinney Boulevard
- United States