The Age of Entanglements is a two-year long project where 8 international design studios are working with the planet of Mars as a projection plane for critique and speculation to create spaces for discussion and debate about what it means being human on Earth today.
As one response to environmental decay and increasing material scarcity on Earth, scientists and the space industry are investing in the potential of asteroid mining, planetary engineering and in-space manufacturing to meet the demands of our growing population. Much of the research and development today is primarily human-centered, very little has been done to consider the potential ecological impact on this unknown environment of Mars.
Is it easier for humans to imagine life on Mars than to change our destructive behavior on Earth? At the same time, a growing understanding of that we as humans are not exceptional beings but rather fully entangled and dependent on other species, renders the urgency of our own extinction clear.
What if focus would shift from exploiting space, just as we have exploited Earth, to develop more sustainable lifestyles in mutualistic symbiosis with other species? What can we learn, or perhaps unlearn, by imagining and designing for multispecies life on Mars?
The Age of Entanglements will be exhibited during Stockholm Design Week, February 3 – 9, 2020 at Volvo Studio. The project is lead and curated by Jenny Lee and Petra Lilja from Non Agency, based in Malmö.
The designers are:
Mariah Wright (USA) – based in New York, USA.
Cathrine Disney (UK) – based in London, England.
Nonhuman Nonsense (SE) – Leo Fidjeland & Linnea Våglund – based in Berlin Germany.
Pleoforma (USA) – Oscar Salguero & Zack Saunders, based in New York, USA
Thomas Pausz (FR) – based in Reykjavik, Island
Fred Erik & Pleun van Dijk (BE, NL) – Frederik Deschuytter & Pleun van Dijk , based in Eindhoven, Holland and London, England
Wang & Söderström (SE) – Anny Wang & Tim Söderström, based in Copenhagen, Danmark
Agi Haines (UK) – based in London, England
Sponsors and partners:
Kulturbryggan, Sparbanksstiftelsen Skåne, STPLN, Konstfack, Linneaus University, Arts & Science Initiative, Designskolen Kolding, Ohboy cykelhotell och Gateaux.
