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Volcano invites
the viewer to experience a sensual, shifting, and dislocated, virtual
landscape. Initially, the viewer’s perspective is located above
a sublime spatial field. As the landscape ripples and swirls at ever
increasing speed the viewer becomes disoriented and the projected image
disintegrates. Volcano continues an investigation into an ever-evolving
desire for immersion using the landscape-in-motion as performer and as
a performative space.
In Volcano, as in earlier work, a digitally simulated environment
becomes a means of exploring the mechanisms at play when a landscape is
reconstructed through digital technology for scientific, ideological, military
or political purposes. This is the second of two works based on a 3D simulation
of the volcanic crater of Mount St. Helens. The simulation originated with
NASA scientists, who used a “Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner” to
create a pictorial equivalent of the landmass’ varying temperatures
and densities. Volcano represents a relocated sense of visuality
that emerges from an intersection of scientific visualization with science
fiction and special effect in which speculative ‘worlds’ have,
to some extent, become legitimated as a form.
Image data was kindly provided by Dr. Vincent J. Realmuto of the Visualization
and Scientific Animation Group, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was
acquired with NASA’s Airborne Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner
(TIMS) on September 1, 1988. Colours (hue) represent changes in the surface
composition and texture. Brighter colours signify higher temperatures.
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