Hidden Island
Mapping with archival 3D scanned model | 12:19-16:58 GMT, 18 March, 2020
River Thames (Hammersmith Bridge), London, UK
51°29'10.2"N 0°14'53.1"W
2020
River Thames (Hammersmith Bridge), London, UK
51°29'10.2"N 0°14'53.1"W
2020
Tide is a unique temporal environmental phenomenon caused by combined effects of gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth. In River Thames, the time range of tidal changes was approximately 4h 17mins during my observation in March, 2020, which is less than the minimum time scale that orbiting satellites can accurately document the ebb and flow, and the shifting bank line of the riverside.
To refine a digital geographical representation, I used photogrammetry technology as a measuring device to document the tidal changes while walking on the tidal zone. Since the optical scanning performance of the measuring tool was disturbed by the flux reflection from the flowing river surfaces, the observational work had unexpectedly revealed a hidden island that is thus recognised and generated by the machine’s perspective from its failure/blind spot to the shifting boundary between the water and the land.
The landscape has gradually decontextualized and morphologically transformed by the entanglement of both environmental and technological factors in the era of digitalisation.
