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17th Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo by Darius Petrulaitis
17th Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo by Darius Petrulaitis
Julijonas Urbonas Lithuanian, b. 1981
A Planet of People , 2018
Žmonių planetos 3D astrofizikos modeliavimas, ekranas / 3D astrophysics simulations of A Planet of People, Screen / screen
220 x 35 cm // Pritaikoma įvairiems ekranams / Compatible with various types of screens
Further images
A Planet of People (2017 - 2019) is an artistic and scientific feasibility study of an artificial planet made entirely from human bodies. The project revolves around the idea of...
A Planet of People (2017 - 2019) is an artistic and scientific feasibility study of an artificial planet made entirely from human bodies.
The project revolves around the idea of sending humans to L2, one of the Lagrangian points in space where gravity is absent, and allows the frozen bodies to float freely until their weak gravities make them assemble into a blob: in this way, a new ‘human’ planet is extra-terraformed. A cosmic fossil of humanity. A monument of humans to humans.
Playing with its variables, such as the quantity of individuals and the duration of time, the project speculates upon the aesthetic, ethical, and scientific aspects of such a space structure. What spatial structures would it be possible to choreograph? How would a landscape of biomass look like on such a planet? What biochemical processes would it undergo, and would it form its own ecosystem eventually? And what would be the ethical, cultural and political implications, both here on Earth and out there?
The project questions the very (anthropocentric and earthly) definition of the human species and life in general – its aesthetic and ethical implications – by looking into how the discourse changes once a large group of human bodies crosses the Kármán line, which marks the border between our ecosystem and outer space. Combining astroanthropology, speculative engineering, biomechanics, space law, space medicine, astrophysics, astrogeology, and space arts, the project also speculates upon the establishment of exo-disciplinary arts.
The outcomes of the artistic research are visualized through 3D astrophysics simulations, a 3D human body scanner-based interactive installation, drawings, and performances.
The project revolves around the idea of sending humans to L2, one of the Lagrangian points in space where gravity is absent, and allows the frozen bodies to float freely until their weak gravities make them assemble into a blob: in this way, a new ‘human’ planet is extra-terraformed. A cosmic fossil of humanity. A monument of humans to humans.
Playing with its variables, such as the quantity of individuals and the duration of time, the project speculates upon the aesthetic, ethical, and scientific aspects of such a space structure. What spatial structures would it be possible to choreograph? How would a landscape of biomass look like on such a planet? What biochemical processes would it undergo, and would it form its own ecosystem eventually? And what would be the ethical, cultural and political implications, both here on Earth and out there?
The project questions the very (anthropocentric and earthly) definition of the human species and life in general – its aesthetic and ethical implications – by looking into how the discourse changes once a large group of human bodies crosses the Kármán line, which marks the border between our ecosystem and outer space. Combining astroanthropology, speculative engineering, biomechanics, space law, space medicine, astrophysics, astrogeology, and space arts, the project also speculates upon the establishment of exo-disciplinary arts.
The outcomes of the artistic research are visualized through 3D astrophysics simulations, a 3D human body scanner-based interactive installation, drawings, and performances.
Exhibitions
Art Encounters Biennial in Romania: Landscape in a Convex Mirror (2021)
