MARSCAPING
The COVID-19 pandemic has been quite challenging for humanity and the situation inspired this project to look beyond Earth, into space. Mars and its landscaping provide the perfect ground for this kind of speculation: far enough to be dreamt yet also close enough to almost touch it. As much as the Red Planet can represent an exciting future for the human race, the frenzy and rush around the “space race” can often leave little room for proper evaluation of the ethical implications attached. One of the many concerns sending humans to Mars is the fear of unknown bacteria and viruses that the astronauts could bring back to Earth but what if we reversed the question? What about the ones we would bring onto a virginal ecosystem? If our presence could impact or harm a future host planet, shouldn’t we be morally obliged to stop the race, take a step back, and reassess our course of action? How much have we truly learned from our wrongful and exploiting behaviour on Earth as a species?
These are some of the questions that this Marscaping is aiming to raise in all those experiencing it. This project does not want to draw conclusive statements but wants to investigate new sustainable materials, as bioplastics and mycelium-based structures, and innovative production methods to be adopted in the Martian environment as well as on Earth.