THE BODY GARDEN
Decreasingly a distant dream, the idea of colonising Mars is slowly coming closer. The Body Garden explores the idea that, in such a resource-scarce environment, organic waste produced by the human body becomes increasingly valuable. What was once labelled as trash transforms into a vital resource for creating a self-sustaining (eco)system on the red planet. The concept of a so-called ‘regenerative life support system’ is far from novel and has been under development by major space organisations for over 30 years, including the MELiSSA project led by ESA.
Within this concept, The Body Garden elaborates on three specific bodily materials: hair, skin, and sweat. Divided into three steps, each volume highlights the necessary tools to harvest a specific material, the bodily material itself, and its potential use within a self-sufficient ecosystem. The three volumes respectively emphasise agricultural purposes, the creation of clean, breathable air, and the production of drinking water — together forming the three pillars of a self-sustaining ecosystem.
This Mars-based, human-centred approach illustrates the unfulfilled potential and one-sided relationship of the human body within a multi-species ecosystem. The scarcity of resources on Mars exposes our questionable relationship with other life forms on Earth, where we - perhaps mistakenly - position ourselves as the dominant species. The project can be viewed both as a mirror to question our role on Earth and as a stepping stone to reposition ourselves within an interplanetary context. It questions our relation to our surroundings while reshaping our perception and the potential of our own bodies.
collaboration ● Pleun van Dijk
commissioned ● non:agency
curator ● Petra Lilja
coördinator ● Jenny Lee
exhibition partner ● Volvo Studio Stockholm