captum dispersal

hydrodistillation transmissions


In The Interface Effect, Alexander Galloway describes the etymology of the word “data” as a Latin past participle meaning, “the things having been given” or more simply, “the givens.” Captum dispersal is an attempt to reverse the colonial impulses inherent in data collection, by attempting reparative acts of returning molecules from sublime landscapes to the paintings themselves in the form of hydrosols transmitted into the air.

Three actions were taken. First, buttercups collected from the grave of Thomas Cole were distilled into a hydrosol, and transmitted at Kaaterskill Falls, an actual landscape Cole painted repeatedly.

Then, materials from Kaaterskill’s falls landscape were gathered and distilled into a hydrosol, which was transmitted surreptitiously into the atmosphere of the room where these paintings now hang.

Videos by the artist, Images by the artist and by Sarah Sweeney