Modeled and textured in Modo, edited in Final Cut, this was an architecture studio project for which I ended up making a short film.
I am a volcanologist. 12 years ago I witnessed my first volcano eruption at mount Mirna, I was on the field as an assistant for a geologist looking for celadonite [K(Mg,Fe2+)(Fe3+,Al)[Si4O10](OH)2].
Drawn to the light, the heat, the mist, the visceral thrill, reaching temperatures higher than my core, I decided that my place was as close to the crater as possible.
After traveling for a few years I had the need for a vehicle that takes me to these prominent yet remote locations, so I built a flying house, one I call a castle. I thought I would design something out of equipment I use in the field and equipment I wish I used in the field So my first design, used the mechanics of a hot air balloon to travel, had an embedded tilt meter measuring the volcanoes slope and had a fire redundant material for the envelope of the balloon.
I was so fascinated by the volcanos that it created a disconnect between me and others. I was happy in my loneliness don’t get me wrong, I have very low tolerance for people. Some call me shy, I would say content is a better word. As time passed, there was a fear brewing. A fear of being forgotten. I was living a life which any day I could disappear off the face of the planet without leaving anything behind to be remembered. As if I never existed.
In all my travels I encountered great amounts of ash, volcanic ash from past eruptions. Soon I discovered that volcanic ash & h2o create a liquid with such viscosity that you can build in a similar way as you would build with clay slip, only this ash, dries much faster, therefore there is no wait for drying time. The only issue is that because of these high viscosity, as soon as it dries it becomes extremely brittle. A strong wind can cause a collapse. I decided to do some firing tests in a kiln to test wether the matterial would become solid at a certain temperature or melt completely. The results showed that the ash has a firing temperature of 1940 °F [cone 04], Lava has a heat that varies from 1,292 to 2,192 °F.
I decided to collect the ash, attaching a vacuum on my castle and a processing tank where it would mix with water, then build a pump that would rotate a 200 degree arc around the building and print totem like brittle sculptures.
These sculptures would only become part of the landscape in case of an eruption.
Leaving behind...my traces of existence.