Snow Gallery in collaboration with Whaam! is pleased to present


VAPOURS OF DELPHI

June 6 - June 29, 2024

June Atkin
Devin Beck
Alina Bliumis
Jennifer Calandra
Scott Covert
Pia Dehne
Robert Hawkins
Balarama Heller
Justus Kempthorne
Lisa Saeboe
Zeena Schreck
Rachel Watson
Natalie White

Soundtracks by:
Bliscord
Delia Gonzalez



''These things fill'd my Head with new Imaginations, and gave me the Vapours again.''
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe, 1719
 
The earth is continually influenced by cosmic rays and our relational positioning in the universe. But what of the influence of energies coming to us from below, in the ground below our feet? Ancient gases rising from deep within the earth, mingling with the millions buried below.
 
“Having the Vapours” is an antiquated description for a psychological state such as hysteria, mania, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, mood swings, lightheadness or PMS in which the sufferer loses mental focus. The Vapours were ascribed primarily to women and thought (by male doctors, of course) to be caused by internal emanations (vapours) from the womb.
 
It is theorized that this feminized state of the Vapours refers back to the ancient Oracle of Delphi. Delphi was seen by the Greeks as the navel of the world, as designated by Apollo. Many would travel to the Oracle of Delphi to seek counsel or divination from Pythia, the high priestess. Inside the temple, Pythia would sit upon a tripod throne situated over a deep pit. Out of this pit rose vapors that would bring Pythia into a frenzied, altered state; a conduit between the mortal and divine worlds. Her enigmatic prophecies were not always intelligible and would thereby be interpreted by the attendant priests.
 
The vapours rising from the pit were said to emanate from the rotting body of the monstrous Python, having been slain by Apollo and thrown into the pit. Recent research has shown the vapours to have a scientific explanation. Chemical analysis of the spring waters and travertine deposits at the site show these vapours to be the light hydrocarbon gases methane, ethane, and ethylene. The effects of inhaling ethylene, a major anesthetic gas in the mid-20th century, are similar to those described in the ancient writings.