FLEX (2023) UniSA MOD, Adelaide AU
Spacious Living
Sarah Jane Pell and David G. Barnes
Future life in Extremes (FLEX), University of South Australia (UniSA), Museum of Discovery (MOD), Adelaide, AU. 17 Feb - 24 Nov 2023.
Universal Gallery Screening:
Pell & Barnes “Rock Stars”, 2018 07:11 Starring – Sarah Jane Pell, Zac Trolley and Julia De Marines (Megascreen 3, Science on a Sphere).
Spacious Living, 2023. Artists: Sarah Jane Pell & David G Barnes, FLEX, Museum of Discovery (MOD), University of South Australia, Adelaide. 17 Feb - 24 Nov 2023. Photos Sia Duff.
Pell & Barnes “Bubbles on Mars”, 2018 03:33 Starring – Sarah Jane Pell, Ryan Kobrick, Zac Trolley and Tatiyama Tasunari.
(Megascreen 2 and Science on a Sphere)
Spacious Living, 2023. Artists: Sarah Jane Pell & David G Barnes, FLEX, Museum of Discovery (MOD), University of South Australia, Adelaide. 17 Feb - 24 Nov 2023. Photos Sia Duff.
Pell & Barnes “Warriors”, 2018 05:00 Starring – Sarah Jane Pell and Julia De Marines. (Megascreen 1 and Science on a Sphere)
Visitor Experience of Spacious Living, 2023. Artists: Pell & Barnes, FLEX, Universal Gallery, MOD, University of South Australia, Adelaide. 17 Feb - 24 Nov 2023. Photos Sia Duff.
Pell & Barnes “Mars Olympid”, 2018 02:26 Staring – Sarah Jane Pell, Renee Garifi, Zac Trolley and Tatiyama Tasunari. (Science on a Sphere)
Spacious Living, 2023. Artists: Sarah Jane Pell & David G Barnes, FLEX, Museum of Discovery (MOD), University of South Australia, Adelaide. 17 Feb - 24 Nov 2023. Photos Sia Duff.
Staring: JULIA DEMARINES, ZAC TROLLY, SARAH JANE PELL, RYAN KOBRICK. On location MARS DESERT RESEARCH STATION, MDRS Crew 188, Southern Utah US 2018. Post Production: DAVID. G. BARNES, DANIEL WAGHORN, SARAH JANE PELL. Writer/Director/Producer: SARAH JANE PELL.
« FLEX » future life in extremis
Visitor accessible experience of Spatious Living:
On the black floor at the Universal Gallery entrance, white text reads: “Could home be 225 million km away?” Just before you enter, wall text in the hallway reads: “Hello, and welcome to the universe. When things seem like life and death down here on Earth, out further there’s a lot going on that makes us pretty forgettable. Plans to live on Mars are not new, it’s something people have been thinking about for a while. As us tiny humans start venturing out to space, how should we go about it?” Covering the lower half of the walls are many portrait-oriented touchscreens. Each is around 1.5m high and .5m wide, and they sit flush with each other. Each group of three touch screens features one continuous interactive image of outer space. There are interactive areas on the screens which can be pressed to zoom in and out of planets and stars. Along the top of the walls is a long, continuous projection of a video work by artist Sarah Jane Pell with collaborator David Barnes, with contributions from the Mars Desert Research Station crew 188 and the Monash Immersive Visualisation Platform. Across the four walls is a sparse landscape which looks like another planet, but which is actually in Utah, USA. The rocky ground is pale grey-brown, the sky dull blue with white clouds. Across the landscape, the artist, and the MDRS crew are dressed in red spacesuits, perform tasks like blowing bubbles, moving rocks, and walking as though in reduced-gravity. Although it looks like a continuous landscape, the video is edited with mirror effects, creating simultaneous copies of the crew in the red spacesuits. The globe in the centre of the room features collected data about the Earth and planets, and Pell mapped 360 videos onto the surface like another worldly planet; the data display - called a Science in a Sphere (SoS) that can be modified by the interactive touch screen next to the globe.
This project is part of the Performing Astronautics project assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
This work was co-produced by Monash University with support from the Monash Immersive Visualisation Platform during an artist residency 2018-2019. It premiered at the Cineglobe Festival, CERN Switzerland 2018 (in 180 Dome format); Life at the Edges Exhibition, Science Gallery Dublin, UK 2018 (in 360VR); SouthStart, Adelaide AU 2018 (as 2D-projection mapping inside the Adelaide Town Hall); and Moving Image Festival Adelaide Festival Centre (Mega Screen architectural wrapping), Adelaide AU 2019. In 2023, Pell adapted the works which MOD-renamed "Spatial Living" for the FLEX exhibition (Interactive Science on a Sphere and megascreens) MOD, Adelaide AU 2023.
⇐ Meet MDRS Crew 188 ⇐ Return to Performances ⇐ Return to Exhibitions ⇐ Check out MIVP Residency Projects