Sensory mementos / INTERSTELLAR SOUNDINGS

For NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and Getty PST

at Brand Library Gallery, Glendale

Opens: Sep. 21, 2024

In two interconnected, collaborative experiences, Shane Myrbeck and  Saskia Wilson-Brown invite visitors into a future where humans journey  into space in search of a new home.

Can we recreate the smells of a lost home when only stories and data remain?
Sensory Mementos imagines a future in which humans seek to  reestablish a connection by recreating what is now, for them, only a  generational memory. Their experiment recreates lost olfactory  landscapes, preserved through narratives and molecular signatures, to  evoke memories of their life on Earth and journey outward into the  stars. These reconstructed scentscapes prompt us to reflect on loss,  meaning, and the unreliability of memory.

Can sound help us feel the proximity of exoplanets?
Interstellar Soundings uses sound to convey the vast distances  of exoplanets in our galaxy. An algorithm selects exoplanets from the  NASA Exoplanet Archive in groups of 16, playing artistically composed  sounds for each planet, with delays based on their distance from Earth.  Shorter delays indicate closer planets, while longer delays signify  those farther away.

Advisors at JPL

Planetary Scientist: Julie Castillo-Rogez 

Astrobiologist & Planetary Scientist: Kevin Hand

Chief Scientist of the Interplanetary Network Directorate: Joseph Lazio

Program Manager for Planetary Science Research & Analysis: Karl Mitchell

Scientist, Planetary Ices Group: Michael J. Malaska

Program Manager, Exoplanet Exploration Program: Gary Blackwood

Chief Technologist, Exoplanet Program: Nick Siegler