2004: Here I present the Ocean that rules the humans on the Solaris station as I imagine it. When I read the book last I made notes on all descriptions Lem gives on the scenery. Here’s in short what I found:
- There are two suns, red and blue. Following that there are a red and a blue day.
- The Ocean is black.
- Sometimes the Ocean is covered by a sticky yellow fog.
- In the vastness of Solaris just a few islands exist. They are the only land the astronauts could set foot on.
- The Ocean creates shapes of various kind, called Mimoids and Symmetriades.
The software I used to create these images is Bryce 5. Bryce allows a very natural treatment of the elements of our visible environment with regard to lighting effects. A problem that arises out of this is that under red or blue sunlight there can IMHO not be any yellow fog because it is impossible to mix yellow from red or blue. All three are the basic colours from the primary colour wheel. I chose cinemascope as aspect ratio because is best reflects the vastness of the seascape.
My view on Solaris is definitely not influenced by the 1972 or 2002 movies. The latter being a visual catastrophe. Somebody called it a psychedelic screensaver but to me it’s even worse than that.
Let’s start with the red day. The sun rises behind the horizon and the black waves reflect the red sunlight. In a distance we can see the fog:
dawn of a red day on Solaris
With the dawn of a blue day the world of Solaris is tinted in a deadly blue light. The spectrum of the blue sun is probably rich of ultra violet and gamma radiation. Man can only survive by hiding from those powerful rays. Think of staring into a welding flame. Lem says that the blue sunlight makes all things appear white and that the blinds of the Solaris station close immediately after sunrise.
a blinding blue sun over Solaris
On Solaris nights, the scenery is dominated by the yellow fog that seems to emit a strange yellowish light. Now the Ocean is really black like oil.
night on Solaris
Important: If you like these pics and use them for your private enjoyment please include a link to www.hansego.de .
A French fan of Lem and CGI artist created his vision of the Ocean, including Symmetriades and Mimoids.
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