Paul Dolan
Lithic Orbit 2023
Lidar scan, customised software, desktop computer, 90’ real time loop, 4096 x 1716
Scotland has become a popular development destination for NewSpace industries to build satellite launch stations. On one such site on North Uist, Hebrides, the island is home to Neolithic standing stones and stone circles, reportedly used as calendars to help with agricultural timings. In Lithic Orbit, a 3D scan of the Pobull Fhinn stone circle was captured whilst walking around its path in a single continuous motion. This 3D scan is animated into a 90-minute rotation, in synchronization with the time it takes for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to orbit the earth. Common uses for LEO satellites include earth observation and terrain mapping, which are being utilised in precision agriculture industries, in which visual data from satellites is used to plan and manage crops. Lithic Orbit explores apparent continuities within our relationship between time, Earth and the cosmos.
Paul Dolan PhD is an artist and Assistant Professor at Northumbria University. His research adopts a critical approach to digital technologies and environment, using a combination of practice-based, social science and fieldwork-based methods. Paul is part of the Cultural Negotiation of Science research group, Cosmotechnics artists group and since 2020 has collaborated with political ecologist Dr Pete Howson, Northumbria University and artist James Davoll.
