Mars is (Not) A Simulation – A terraforming paradox after the mission (2020)

Mars is (Not) A Simulation – A terraforming paradox after the mission (2020) is an installation based on Mars simulation missions. The work examines the paradox of the hypothesis that planet Mars can potentially be habitable for humans and a future second-Earth, even as scientific observations attested to the fact that the planet is inhospitable to humans and most known life forms. To enable life on Mars requires a mastery in converting raw alien material into useable resources, and the creation and sustenance of complex life-support systems – an “earth-shaping” of Mars. That a fantastical proposition drives numerous scientific investigations (and creative imagination) and decades of spacecraft observations is the key line of enquiry in the artist’s work. Mars is (Not) A Simulation continues Venzha’s interest in offering artistic interpretations of such space science ventures. The installation, based on the science of radio astronomy, features a cluster of specially designed modules and a complex network of antennas which collect radio waves from space. The signals received are presented as visual graphics and decoded into audible sounds. Basked in a blow glow, the work offers an encounter with outer space and a cosmic soundscape.