Kara Uzelman

29 October 2010 - 4 December 2010
Opening Reception 29 October 2010

Kara Uzelman has evolved a form of sculptural installation driven by a strong research-based inclination and fondness for narrative. Her new body of work relates to research she completed in a recent residency in Marseille, France, regarding the Chappe semaphore tower, a system of optical communication that was developed in France during the French revolution. The Chappe brothers invented and built a tower with long moving arms that could make letters in the sky. This was the first successful system of rapid long distance communication, sometimes referred to as the mechanical internet it was the beginning of telephone, radio, internet. The artist’s interest lies in the semaphore operator’s role as an optical communicator and her parallel position as an artist—a solitary life, watching, taking in information, visually communicating information. She will be building added components to the installation that will appear over the course of the exhibition. In order to support the process-based nature of the work, Uzelman has been invited as artist-in-residence at Mercer Union with support from the Hal Jackman Foundation.