Caught in listening to rocks (2023)
Jennifer Carniel

Planets are exciting scientific objects, from an earthly perspective. Science is transforming them from distant objects into places suitable for habitation. Each new data set and scientific article makes them more meaningful and brings them closer. Ideas about life on Earth fuel studies of other planets, and studying other worlds refines how we define life on Earth.

Technologies like the Perseverance rover let us walk on Mars, but we often forget that the immense distance still separates us from it. It is a deceptive proximity, we are not there, we cannot touch the ground, we can only study it's landscape via images and sounds. As far as we know, Mars is definitely composed of rocks and sand. In addition, there are increasing traces of our passage. Caught in listening to rocks is meant to be a mirror, placed on Mars but facing Earth. Thus, we catch a glimpse of the traces we as humanity leave behind in our colonizing quest.