Stained Perception

STAINED PERCEPTION

Is there extraterrestrial life? This question has been occupying humankind and the science community until today. There have been various tests and experiments to find out if there is life on Mars. In the less probed area of the Martian South pole region appear changing “Dark Dune Spots” in a seasonal rhythm. Partly they vanish partly they emerge at the same spot again. An interdisciplinary team of Hungarian scientists (planetology, biology, geology, astronomy and geography) analyse images of the “Dark Dune Spots” like detectives and compare them with similar geological or biological formations on Earth. The scientists established the hypothesis that the Dark Dune Spots could be indicators of extremophile life under the ice surface of Mars. How does one know if these spots are alive or not? How can one prove without having a possibility to go to the South pole? The analysis of the images of the orbiting satellite Mars Global Surveyor becomes a forensic investigation. Through profiling this phenomena knowledge is accumulated and becomes evidence.The forensic technique of the researchers is demonstrated with NASA images they use, and drawings by the artist Nikolaus Gansterer.

Concept: Karin Harrasser and Barbara Imhof; Architecture: Barbara Imhof, Waltraut Hoheneder (Liquifer); Drawings: Nikolaus Gansterer; Radio play: Monochrom; Sound: Rene Waclavicek, Markus Tatzer;Loation: Xperimenta 06, Planetarium, Vienna; Year: 2006

Publication:

– Die Wahr/Falsch Inc., science communications, Schütz& Martos (Eds.), Wien 2006  ISBN: 978-3-85076-784-2