Culture Capture: Crimes Against Reality

Synopsis

Culture Capture: Crimes Against Reality morphs monuments into metastasizing flesh via ritualized photogrammetric capture and virtual manipulation, clearing space for Indigenous futures. The piece literalizes the violence of settler-colonial propaganda and features high-profile monuments such as the equestrian Theodore Roosevelt statue which stood in front of AMNH in New York City and End of the Trail, both created by American sculptor James Earle Frasier. The video mines the archive of Frasier, going beyond simple iconoclasm to probe deeper, investigating desires for indigeneity that motivated the artist, desires that continue to pervade the myths, dreams, and political foundations of the so-called americas.