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.