Deep data prototypes
Deep Data is a project arc so far comprising three pieces. The Deep Data Prototypes are experimental simulation devices in which space-faring terrestrial organisms are subjected to selected elements of the deep space environment as recorded by probes, landers and other robotic platforms. The works frame ideas of terrestrial astrobiological experiments in which data from deep space exploration is used to manipulate the parameters of biological growth environments. Through the use of micro-organisms and deep space presence, huge discrepancies in scales are collapsed into one locus where the possibilities and boundaries of life are contrasted with our own extended sensory cortex and its related information gathering systems.
The three current works taken as a whole represent a real time astrobiological experiment, a performative laboratory, where custom built equipment operates according to data sourced throughout the solar system.
In Prototype 1, polyextremophile tardigrades are exposed to the magnetic fields of the gas giants as recorded by the Pioneer and Voyager probes during their journeys to the edges of the Solar System. In prototype 2, eight cultures of a photomorphogenic mutant of the plant arabadopsis are grown under the light spectra of other planets. In Prototype 3, three cultures of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are subjected to the gravity wells of newly discovered terrestrial exoplanets. Each of these organisms has been a common passenger on space missions since the 1960s and are thus seen as ideal test subjects for further experimentation. These organisms are pioneers, venturing into parts of the space environment that no other organism has sensed or witnessed. As with the robotic platforms that inform them, they become our space explorers by proxy.
Deep Data proposes that we must keep looking outwards to find the boundary of life by exploiting the outermost information we have. It also proposes cultural and critical examination of our quest to find other forms, habitats and strategies for life by reviewing technological processes while asking philosophical questions about their discovery.
Deep data prototype 1
Magnetometer data from the Pioneer and Voyager probes recreates magnetic field experiments on cultures of tardigrades.
Deep data prototype 2
Deep Data Prototype _2 is the second stage of the Deep Data project research arc and features 8 separate seed growing environments for the model organism arabidopsis, a plant commonly used to study the effects of zero gravity on shoot development.
Deep data prototype 3
Deep Data Prototype 3 presents a terrestrial astrobiological experiment, the nematode worms experiencing by proxy the parameters of gravitational reality on unexplored and possible future worlds.