Crater creates an encompassing sensory experience by combining panoramic video projections, theatrical lighting and a surround soundscape. It is the first of two works based on a 3D simulation of the crater of Mount St. Helens, an active volcano near Seattle, Washington. Using image data acquired from NASA the 3-channel video installation re-creates the interior of the volcanic crater. It places the viewer at the centre and involves them in an active way comparable to the mechanisms used in gaming or simulated environments.

This particular landscape, an active volcano, represents the uncontrollable forces of nature. From within the high mountainous walls of the volcanic cone, one can imagine a parallel universe. The practice of translating such a landscape into a virtual model and then into an immersive screen-based installation is essentially one of transforming the landscape into an artificial kingdom with the viewers’ presence completing the process of exploration. Through acceleration and disorientation, the crater becomes a site of spatial performance in which the viewer is as much a participant as the volcano.

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.