Ecopoiesis and the Goldilox Archive

Abstract

Ecopoiesis and the Goldilox Archive examines humanity’s anxiety ridden relationships with the environments of Earth and Mars. For this project I have mined many gigabytes of image data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) digital image archives. Over the course of this project I have amassed my own archive of images and corresponding data. Based on this data, I have created large format archival digital prints. At its core, my thesis project is a collection of research data remixed into my own science fiction image narratives. This project investigates and expands the possibilities of how humans utilize and interact with publically accessible knowledge and digital archives. I also explore questions of how image and scientific data is appropriated, manipulated and fictionalized as a contemporary art material. Buried in the layers of appropriated research, data collection and fiction are questions concerning habitability. This project has been influenced by rapid climate change on Earth as well as humanity’s increased interest in colonizing Mars. My thesis work is an effort to visualize what humanity’s home could look like in the near future. This overarching ethos of research allows my artwork to function as a space for me to contemplate seemingly difficult or unresolvable questions concerning ecosystem stability and environmental habitability.