The “Aphrodisiac Telephone (Lobster Phone)” is a celebrated sculpture by the illustrious Spanish artist Salvador Dali, created during the Surrealist movement, roughly between 1936 and 1938. Crafted from unconventional materials such as plastic and plaster, the artwork falls under the genre of sculpture and is part of the “Lobster/Aphrodisiac Telephone” series. It is housed in the Salvador Dali Museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
The artwork embodies the unconventional and dream-like elements characteristic of Surrealism. It features an actual-size lobster that is intimately integrated with a classic rotary dial telephone, rendered in smooth ivory tones. The lobster replaces the handset of the phone, while the rest of the phone remains relatively unaltered, familiar in its design and functionality. Representing one of Dali’s most iconic and outlandish motifs, the lobster’s elongated body and conspicuous pincers emphasize the tension between the familiar and the bizarre. Through this melding of everyday object with a marine creature, Dali invokes a sense of the erotic—a frequent theme in his body of work—which is further alluded to in the title “Aphrodisiac Telephone.” This piece stands as a monument to the artist’s capacity to fuse the mundane with the imaginative, thereby challenging viewers’ perceptions of reality and function.
