The Martian Rose

The Martian Rose explores extreme environments and life beyond terrestrial settings. 

Using a planetary simulation chamber, roses were exposed to Martian environment for six hours at the Mars Simulation Laboratory, University of Aarhus, Denmark.

Curator statement

Bios 4. Arte Biotecnológico y Ambiental

"Of all flowers, the rose evokes both the artificial and the poetic, both passion and fragility. Submitted in laboratory conditions to the atmosphere of Mars, the rose died. Mars is not the B612 asteroid in The Little Prince and, in its cylinder reminiscent of a space probe, the flower reminds us that space is a place of death."

Annick Bureaud and Jean-Luc Soret, Curators, Festival @rt Outsiders 2009, (In)Habitable? L'Art des Environments Extremes
 
The Martian Rose (2007), Bios 4. Arte Biotecnológico y Ambiental, CAAC - Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville,
The Martian Rose (2007), Bios 4. Arte Biotecnológico y Ambiental, CAAC - Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, May - September 2007 © C-LAB

From Lab to Exhibition

Mars Simulation laboratory

The Martian Rose (2007), Festival @rt Outsiders 2009, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France, 2009 © C-LAB
The Martian Rose (2007), Festival @rt Outsiders 2009, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France, 2009 © C-LAB

What would Mars do to a rose?

Mars Simulation laboratory

The Martian Rose is an artistic investigation into boundary conditions of life beyond Earth's environment.
The Martian Rose (2007), Unsafe Distance, Stone Bell House, Prague, Czech Republic, 2007 © C-LAB
The Martian Rose (2007), Unsafe Distance, Stone Bell House, Prague, Czech Republic, 2007 © C-LAB

Hostile Environment

Mars Simulation laboratory

The work bridges an experience of inaccessible spaces by exposing living roses to the hostile atmosphere of Mars. The tubes are specially constructed to fit into the holes inside the chamber forming a carousel allowing us to rotate each tube into a new position during exposure © c-lab 2009
Before exposure, Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, September 2009 © C-LAB
Before exposure, Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, September 2009 © C-LAB

Hostile Environment

Mars Simulation laboratory

Arriving directly from the Mars Simulation Laboratory, we encounter a rose that has been subjected to Martian environment for six hours in temperatures below -60°C, atmospheric pressure of only a hundredth of Earth's, prevalence of carbon dioxide and UV light penetrating unshielded. 
Roses seconds after exposure to Martian atmospheric parameters at the Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus
Roses seconds after exposure to Martian atmospheric parameters at the Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, September 2009 © C-LAB

Poetic Negotiation

Scientific Spaces

The project poetically negotiates scientific spaces selecting a rose not for its resilience to these harsh conditions but rather for its important cultural value and a prelude to a more intensive engagement with Mars.
Roses during exposure to Martian atmospheric parameters, Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, March 2
Roses during exposure to Martian atmospheric parameters, Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, March 2007 © C-LAB

Discourse

The Martian Rose aims to open discourses and communicate ideas of what we are left with and reflect on both the Martian atmosphere and how technologies are used to simulate these spaces. The work carries the romantic idea of giving a rose to Mars and its encounters with extreme climate, a rendezvous of science and culture.
C-LAB, The Martian Rose (video), 2008

Acknowledgements

& Credits

A project by Laura Cinti and Howard Boland.

The laboratory experiment was conducted by Dr Jon Merrison at the Mars Simulation Laboratory, University of Aarhus, Denmark in March 2007 and September 2009.

“university
Our sincerest gratitude to:
Dr Jon Merrison and Dr Per Nørnberg, Mars Simulation Laboratory, Aarhus University, Denmark.
 
Professor Nigel Mason, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Professor Charles S. Cockell, Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute, The Open University, UK.

Supported by a grant from

office for contemporary art norway



A new edition of the work was supported by the @rts Outsiders Festival 2009 with thanks to Jean-Luc Soret and Annick Bureaud.


Roses during exposure to Martian atmospheric parameters, Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, March 2
Roses during exposure to Martian atmospheric parameters, Mars Simulation Laboratory, University Aarhus, Denmark, March 2007 © C-LAB

Media

Selected

A Rose on Mars is still a Rose, Brandon Keim, Wired Science, Wired, USA, 2007

Containing ET, Astrobiology Magazine, NASA-Sponsored Online Science Magazine, USA, 2007

Růže z Marsu Ceska Televise Port TV (Interview for Czech Television), 18 June 2008

Interview with C-Lab Metropop, Issue 381, 21 November 2013, p. 130, Hong Kong, China, 2013

Martian Rose at Microwave Festival 2013 TVB Pearl News, Hong Kong, 2013

Microwave Festival 2013 Teaser Microwave New Media Arts Festival, Hong Kong, 2013

The Martian Rose - Microwave Festival Art News, Arts Promotion News Network, Hong Kong, China, 2013
A Rose on Mars is still a Rose, Brandon Keim, Wired Science, Wired, USA, 2007
A Rose on Mars is still a Rose, Brandon Keim, Wired Science, Wired, USA, 2007
Containing ET, Astrobiology Magazine, NASA-Sponsored Online Science Magazine, USA, 2007
Containing ET, Astrobiology Magazine, NASA-Sponsored Online Science Magazine, USA, 2007
Růže z Marsu Ceska Televise Port TV (Interview for Czech Television), 18 June 2008
Růže z Marsu Ceska Televise Port TV (Interview for Czech Television), 18 June 2008