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Parícutin Volcano Project

Peter Hutchinson

Artwork Details

Parícutin Volcano Project
1970
Peter Hutchinson
photographs on cardboard
41 3/8 x 28 3/8 x 1 1/2 in. (105.09 x 72.07 x 3.81 cm)
The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the Nation Gallery of Art, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum and Library Services
2008/2.233

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Description

Peter Hutchinson
United Kingdom, born 1930
Paricutin Volcano Project
1970
Photographs on cardboard
2008/2.233

Subject Matter:

Hutchinson’s project at Parícutin consisted of throwing 450 pounds of bread crumbs onto the edge of the volcano’s mouth. He then covered it in plastic for six days for the steam and heat to begin to grow mold, which is visible in these images as a faint smudge of white on the otherwise dark mountainside. Parícutin volcano is located about 200 miles west of Mexico City and its eruption from 1943 to 1952 marked the first time scientists were able to observe the complete life cycle of a volcano, from birth to extinction, and greatly expanded our understanding of volcanism. The idea behind the project, he said, was to “juxtapose a microorganism against a macrocosmic landscape.” 

Usage Rights:

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