Sitting a little way off, beyond the trees, so as to remain in the full ambit. is a newly-commissioned, site-specific collaborative project that chronicles several sculptural interventions as they engage with the wetlands near Saugerties, NY as a site of regenerative growth and interspecies interaction. 

Featuring four large, non-figurative steel sculptures that subtly alter the flow of the water in which they are situated, Sitting a little way off, beyond the trees, so as to remain in the full ambit. harnesses wetland processes such as stagnation and leaching. The design of these works yields new pathways for water retention and soil collection, while providing niches for flora and fauna. Transmitted to audiences via livestream, the work invites virtual visitors to observe how these sculptures engage with the surrounding wetlands over time, connecting far-flung audiences to an experimental ecosystem. The sculptures will cohabitate with the natural wetland surroundings, and will gradually submerge into and re-emerge from the landscape along with seasonal water levels.

Sitting a little way off, beyond the trees, so as to remain in the full ambit. materializes the artists’ interest in what it means to make a work whose interaction with land could ultimately be considered quasi-regenerative and barely traceable. At once tangible and virtual, this hybrid project marks a continuation of Johnson and Loeppky-Kolesnik's longstanding artistic collaboration and shared interest in sense of place and site-specificity with a new level of focus.

This project was included in the fifth edition of UPSTATE ART WEEKEND, July 18—21, 2024, which saw over 140 organizations celebrating art and culture in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley region. The artists and Black Cube held an in-person walkthrough of the project on Thursday, July 18 from 3:00 p.m.—4:30 p.m.

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FROM THE ARTISTS:

Sitting a little way off, beyond the trees, so as to remain in the full ambit. is physically located in the region that is now known as the Hudson Valley, the shared ancestral land of the Lenape, Mohican, Schaghticoke, Haudenosaunee, and Wappinger peoples, who were forced from their lands through colonialism and genocide. We acknowledge that these Nations are the original stewards of this land on which this work takes place and that they continue residing on these lands today. We are confused by property. We acknowledge, recognize, and honor the Indigenous communities of this region from the past, present, and future.  

Digitally, this work exists through a connected online system of servers, cables, and computer devices maintained by human actors. In the United States, much of this infrastructure sits on stolen land acquired under the extractive logic of white settler expansion. The online form of this work, fullambit.blackcube.art, runs on servers located in numerous locations across the continent located on the ancestral lands of several Indigenous nations. We recognize this history and affirm the sovereignty of Indigenous people, data, and territory.