Life on Mars might not want to be found
Life on Mars might not want to be found
(3d scan of the work in the exhibition space).
Exhibited as part of a group show
Such stuff as worlds are made on (Valletta, MT)
Centre left - video projection of Jenna Sutela's nimiia cétiï
At Such stuff as worlds are made on (Valletta, MT)
Drawing upon the urban legends, ghost stories and extraordinary experiences linked to the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum site, the work builds a speculative cartography of encounters with other-than-humans and considers their agency.
The work is a cross-pollination of meaning of life forms encounters between science and magic stretching between eras, extinction events and other-than-human archives.
Seems at home
(fragment)
Starting with the image of the six-fingered hand carving, touch is explored here as a gesture that activates portals of sensing and as a contaminant on a human and planetary scale. This work speculates about life forms evolving in human-free environments, and the practice of terraforming by the Earth stemming Martian life forms.
{HōÔaneuu}
Video HD 2560 x 1440 (1’50”)
Photo :
Audrey Rose Mizzi/ Spazju Kreattiv
čyyiioo
Augmented Reality (AR)
work & HD video 2560×1440;
Following Donna Haraway’s suggestion that "it matters what matters we use to think other matters with; […] what descriptions describe descriptions. […] It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories" (Haraway, 2016), this work examines the human quest for extraterrestrial life and how our search is constrained by an Earth-centric definition of life. An example of this is NASA's definition of life as "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution." Currently, there exist over 100 definitions of life, yet we continue to encounter organisms on Earth that challenge our understanding of what constitutes a life form. Extremophiles, viruses, and chemical systems displaying life-like behaviors are expanding our conception of life and suggesting that we may not possess a comprehensive understanding to effectively seek life on other planets. This work speculates about forms of life that elude our imagination and considers the possibility of life evolving on Mars, potentially influenced by our own contamination resulting from our prolonged presence and the deployment of our machines.
Seems at home
Seems at Home addresses the possibility of life evolving on another planet. In this work, the materials that make up the Perseverance Mars rover—titanium and aluminium—are interpreted using the chart of planetary magical metal correspondences. It explores the concept of randomness and the odds of life evolving on Mars through the analysis of metal correspondences and how these metals are influenced by the positions of planets. By combining the alignment of planets with the interpretation of metals, the work attempts to predict whether life can evolve from the organisms we may have inadvertently left behind through our machines. Since we cannot witness the formation of life firsthand, we will never know whether the moments of planet-metal correspondence contributed to it or whether it was a random event. The possibility of Earthly organisms evolving outside of Earth is not zero. This possibility has been demonstrated by a robust Earthly life form—the spores of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032, which have undergone 1.5-year-long tests and have shown resilience in harsh environments, including UV radiation and vacuum conditions, suggesting they could survive a journey to Mars. However, the question remains: can they also survive and evolve on Mars? Only time and the planets will provide the answer.
Materials: colour print on aluminium 160cm x 140cm.
Photo – Audrey Rose Mizzi/ Spazju Kreattiv
images below – Seems at home, details.
Photo :
Letta Shtohryn
Finding parallels between possible Martian life forms and local legends of subterranean humanoid beings that evolved within the capsule-like environment of the Hypogeum, the installation intertwines planets, eras, and contexts. Through speculative exploration, it delves into visual, tactile, material, and narrative elements inspired by the Neolithic site legends, alluding to the enigmatic possibilities we may encounter beyond Earth, underwater, and deep underground, as well as our lack of knowledge about these non-human-centric realms. Additionally, it examines the uncanny resemblance between recently documented terrestrial underwater organisms and our collective imagination and expectations of extraterrestrial life forms.
Life on Mars.
VR work documentation (segment) (02’23”)
