Pioneer species are plants capable of colonizing barren or disturbed land following events such as volcanic eruptions and landslides. Once the soil becomes fertile enough to support other species, however, they are often outcompeted and disappear.

The Pioneers derives from Yamada’s ongoing research into the relationships between Mount Mihara on Izu Oshima Island, Japan, and its human and non-human inhabitants.

Throughout the video, Yamada interweaves residents’ recollections of the eruption that occurred 33 years ago and local accounts of the island’s geology with Yamada’s diary documenting growing pioneer species, including Japanese knotweed and Alnus sieboldiana. The featured song was created in collaboration with vocalist Tomoko Abe and seeks to evoke the vitality of plants, in contrast to how they often appear to humans; still and passively accepting their surroundings. Within the seemingly random assemblages of vegetation on the volcano, plants grow cooperatively when young, then compete for access to light and space as they mature. The jazz-inflected song amplifies these activities, conjuring imagined sensations and forms of agency within the plants.

For the island’s human residents, the eruption transformed Mount Mihara from a familiar landscape into an unfamiliar force capable of destroying their lives. For the seeds of pioneer species, however, the same event marked a long-awaited opportunity for growth. In The Pioneers, Yamada attempts to depict these multiple perspectives on nature through the combination of different forms of narration.

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