The Deep Data Prototypes are experimental simulation devices in which certain organisms are subjected to aspects of the deep space environment as recorded by probes, landers and other platforms. Via use of micro-organisms and deep space, huge discrepancies in scale are collapsed into one locus where the possibilities and boundaries of life are contrasted with our own extended sensory cortex and its information-gathering systems.
The three parts represent a real-time astrobiological experiment, a performative laboratory, where custom-built equipment operates according to data sourced throughout the solar system.
In DDP1, polyextremophile tardigrades are exposed to the magnetic fields of the gas giants. In DDP2, a photomorphogenic mutant of the plant arabidopsis is grown under the light spectra of other planets. In DDP3, nematodes are subjected to the gravity of newly discovered terrestrial exoplanets. These organisms are already space travelers and are ideal subjects for further experiments. They are pioneers, venturing into areas of space that no other organism has sensed or witnessed. As with the robotic platforms that inform them, they become our space explorers by proxy.
Project Credits:
- DDP2 commissioned by Arte+Ciencia UNAM
- DDP3 commissioned by Meta.Morf, Trondheim
- project supported by VIDA, Fundacion Telefonica
Websites:
- http://hostprods.net/projects/deep-data-prototype1/
- http://hostprods.net/projects/deep-data-prototype2/
- http://hostprods.net/projects/deep-data-prototype3/
Biography:
Andy Gracie (UK) works across various disciplines including installation, robotics, sound, video and biological practice. This work is situated at a point of separation between the arts and the sciences, creating situations of exchange which allow new understandings and knowledge systems to develop. He employs scientific theory and practice to question our relationships with exploration and experiment whilst simultaneously bringing into focus the very relationship between art and science, and how new knowledge is culturally assimilated.
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