Fire Signals Announcing the New Moon

2015    26.5”w, 16”h  collage

During the Second Temple period (530 BCE–70 CE), Jews in Palestine and in the Babylonian exile were notified of the arrival of the new moon—signifying the start of a new month—by fire beacons that were lit across the mountaintops. Foer visually links this type of communication to firing neurons sending messages across our brain. Images of the framework of neurons are collaged onto and into topographic maps of Israel.

• Maps