The European Space Agency (ESA) currently runs a space exploration programme called Aurora which includes a planned robotic mission to the surface of Mars.
The ExoMars rover will be sent in 2018 to gather and analyse data they receive and includes a number of scientific experiments.
I contacted the project scientist Dr Jorge Vago to see if there was any chance of including an art work on the payload. He said there was.
After initial discussions, and understanding the cost of transporting something to Mars, I decided to try to work site specifically with the robot. My idea is to use the robot once the mission is technically over.
I want to choreograph a series of actions for it to perform, using its mobility functions and the autonomous navigation system. I want to treat it as an actor, or dancer on Mars, without a direct audience.
I want to highlight its solitude.
Remoteness
The underlying power of the work lies in its remoteness. The same work in the desert or snow, whilst still aesthetic and relatively remote, would still be accessible and within reach of those who wanted to see it directly.
By doing the same work on Mars, the lack of tangibility makes it more appealing. It seems more special to do something in a place where no humans or animals live.
Direction
The wheels of the robot leave tracks in the sand that are visible at certain times from both the robots camera and from that on the orbiter which passes overhead. If directed, these could be treated as temporary drawings and the documentation sent back to Earth.
The determination of movements will be found in a method of deciding co-ordinates. Either as fractal creating program (open algorithm) could be used or co-ordinates could be created from a more random source (the flight pattern of a butterfly)
I also found this information…
“In the mid-1870’s Charles Cros, an enthusiastic Frenchman put forward the scheme of building a large burning glass which could focus the suns light and heat onto a Martian desert, scorching the sand there, by swinging the glass around it would be possible to write words on the surface of Mars”.
I will do some drawings using this method and produce co-ordinates from them as a possible method of direction.
Documentation
The method of documentation will be images from the 2 panoramic wide angle stereo cameras and the 1 high-resolution camera (its view).
The orbiter has a camera that can take photos of the rover on Mars and importantly of the tracks (or drawings) it makes in the sand.
Images
The European Space Agency (ESA) currently runs a space exploration programme called Aurora which includes a planned robotic mission to the surface of Mars.
The ExoMars rover will be sent in 2018 to gather and analyse data they receive and includes a number of scientific experiments.
I contacted the project scientist Dr Jorge Vago to see if there was any chance of including an art work on the payload. He said there was.
After initial discussions, and understanding the cost of transporting something to Mars, I decided to try to work site specifically with the robot. My idea is to use the robot once the mission is technically over.
I want to choreograph a series of actions for it to perform, using its mobility functions and the autonomous navigation system. I want to treat it as an actor, or dancer on Mars, without a direct audience.
I want to highlight its solitude.
Remoteness
The underlying power of the work lies in its remoteness. The same work in the desert or snow, whilst still aesthetic and relatively remote, would still be accessible and within reach of those who wanted to see it directly.
By doing the same work on Mars, the lack of tangibility makes it more appealing. It seems more special to do something in a place where no humans or animals live.
Direction
The wheels of the robot leave tracks in the sand that are visible at certain times from both the robots camera and from that on the orbiter which passes overhead. If directed, these could be treated as temporary drawings and the documentation sent back to Earth.
The determination of movements will be found in a method of deciding co-ordinates. Either as fractal creating program (open algorithm) could be used or co-ordinates could be created from a more random source (the flight pattern of a butterfly)
I also found this information…
“In the mid-1870’s Charles Cros, an enthusiastic Frenchman put forward the scheme of building a large burning glass which could focus the suns light and heat onto a Martian desert, scorching the sand there, by swinging the glass around it would be possible to write words on the surface of Mars”.
I will do some drawings using this method and produce co-ordinates from them as a possible method of direction.
Documentation
The method of documentation will be images from the 2 panoramic wide angle stereo cameras and the 1 high-resolution camera (its view).
The orbiter has a camera that can take photos of the rover on Mars and importantly of the tracks (or drawings) it makes in the sand.
Images