1. Old style and hanging from the ceiling. By Christine Clara Oppel. Via Hulger.

Phones, 1999.

2. Mobile but trapped in a tank. The Digital Aquarium, by Digit, featured 150 pre-programmed mobile phones. The installation was brought to life whenever a passer-by dials one of the mobile phone numbers posted up on the wall of the Tank.

Each number relates to a series of patterns which triggers off a chain reaction as the signal travels from phone to phone creating the shimmering effect of fish swimming around an aquarium as each mobile lights up, vibrates and rings in a pre-programmed sequence.

As every mobile has also been programmed with a distinctive dial tone, the visual replica of an aquarium is accompanied by a different sound sequence depending on which phone number the passer-by chooses to call.

Related: Window shows.