kevin michael sullivan
index / digital / el cap fig. 31 — digital

el cap

1 plate
el cap — plate 01

description

An elevation dataset is mapped as bands of flat color. The high ground at the left is the warmest tone and is stippled with contour noise; the low ground to the right fades almost to white. A single long ridge crosses the upper field, and drainage lines run down from it in branching threads.

The bands are stepped rather than graded, so the terrain resolves into a small number of zones. Along the edges between them the resolution of the data shows as a fringe. The image reads as a map and, at the same time, as a stained cloth.

material
digital elevation map
process
mapped, color-banded