natura stupet Fiona Lascelles

natura stupet - nature is dumbfounded. Mars Pathfinder mission touched down in the Ares Vallis region of Mars in July 1997 taking many images of the surrounding area. Analysis of the images revealed two areas that have the spectral signature of chlorophyll. According to experts it might be highly significant - or could be just a patch of coloured soil. Underscored by desire for an elsewhere - an outer realm of the unknown where there is to behold a great source of wonders.

natura stupet explores Eden as a quixotic construct, both abstracted and romanticised, driven by colonising impulses, and overshadowed by the threat of exploitation and ultimately expulsion. Current space exploration exists as a search for life, for oxygen, for water, for chlorophyll. The green cargo in the work is ambiguous, it could either be scientific samples taken or specimens intended as part of a new colonial propagation effort. This work is strangely and hauntingly beautiful, capturing the wistful longing for asylum. Despite all uncertainties and improbabilities, we allow ourselves to be drawn in and become witness to yet another extravaganza of speculation. The Victorian theatre of the spectacle continues its process with simulated travel. As voyeur, we are privileged the journey of the explorer and experience the thrill of discovery or self-delusion for ourselves altering worlds via the "audacious projections from our deepest dreams and visions".

Presented alongside Kim Swanson Hood