The Fluid is one of a group of digital animations based on the cycle of paintings The Course of Empire, by Hudson River painter Thomas Cole. With its stylized depictions of landscape, The Fluid weaves together references not only to Hudson River painting but to Japanese Edo painting from the same historical moment as well as to 20th century abstraction. The piece focuses on the rhythmic aspects of water at every scale, from phase change to the global water cycle, and the increasing anxiety over the fragility of that cycle. Presented as a constant flow, the piece drifts between forms of representation and abstraction and is deployed throughout the 52 screens in Fulton Street Station to echo the tidal motion of daily commuters passing by.