Conceptual Telegraphy and the Song of the Wind Through Its Wires (October 10th 7-10pm)

Events / News, Project Space

Conceptual Telegraphy and the Song of the Wind Through Its Wires

Curated by Katie Herzog

Opening October 10th, 7-10 pm
Through October 24th

Artists:
Emily Becklin
Christine Ellison
Malisa Humphrey
Alison O’Daniel
Kelly Sears
Tamara Sussman
Ann Trondson

“You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.”

Conceptual Telegraphy and the Song of the Wind Through Its Wires is a group exhibition inspired by Albert Einstein in his famous quote regarding radio waves. His explanation of technological abstraction draws upon a basic form of messaging: pulling a cat’s tail and the subsequent cry. Einstein uses the idea of the nation-long cat body as a mnemonic device, and his message is transferred through the body’s erasure.

The seven artists living in London and Los Angeles engage narratives of communications, voice, and cultural myths in a post wave world. Works include a reified Disney wishing well, and a dystopic manifest destiny tale realized through yellowing images found in thrift stores. An investigative metanarrative uses illustration and audio hypnosis to seek truth and justice in Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. A lenticular curse comes between two lovers. The twin towers are resurrected as twin brothers doing what kids do best, and an artist engages in a coital affair with her laptop interface. The works are a result of a pulled tale, utilizing collective consciousness to investigate messages delivered through our cultural cat body and its entropic echo.