Senectus Tempus: Benjamin Knock

Working in collaboration with Tokyo University’s department of Volcanology Knock collected geological samples and sonic recordings from the surface of the caldera as well as three dimensional lidar scans of the mountain interior and drone footage of the surrounding landscape which became the source materials for the creation of the works.

Mt Yasur is a stratovolcano, rising 361m above sea level to a steep circular cone around 400 meters in diameter which has been continuously erupting for hundreds of years. Resulting in the surrounding landscape becoming predominantly un-vegetated barren planes of pyroclastic rock, ash and tephra.

The raw materials collected from the site, such as sulphur oxides, volcanic glass, sand and ash were mixed down in to pigments for the works on canvas, a series of layered textural abstractions representing the passage of deep time and the internal structure of the planet from core to mantle to crust.

The pyroclasts collected from the mountain surface, made up of andesitic lava, magnesium, iron, zeolite and aluminium became the base for a series of hand-blown glass objects created in collaboration with glass technician Ned Reily of Melting Pot Glass Studio.

Screen captures from three dimensional lidar scans depicting the internal layers of the mountain were laser etched on to acrylic panels and secured together in multi-layered structural forms to create transparent hanging sculpture.