Modeling has long been used as a method for predictive understanding. Artists use models to formulate moments of ‘still life’ for direct observation. Scientists use modeling—both physical as well as remote sensing—in attempts to understand a physical space or a process they cannot access or has not yet happened. Through modeling we have studied the surface of Mars and identified geographies that are ‘viable’ for human survival based on the presence of ROI’s (resources of interest) detected by the CRISM missions. NASA has identified a number of these sites, called HEZs (Human Exploration Zones), as locations for the first human exploration of Mars. Yet the Martian landscape remains extreme and inhospitable to the human body.

 

The images in this series depict three of these sites: Aram Chaos, Melas Chasma, and Gale Crater. They picture 3D models of the Martian terrain extracted from satellite imagery. They highlight our inability to fully understand that which we cannot experience phenomenologically. They resemble familiar landscape images of mountains and terrain, yet they remain alien, distant models. HEZs explore both the fantasy and absurdity of colonization of Mars.