In the mid-seventies, the stationary Viking Landers were the first to land on planet Mars. Though the alien landscape was magnificent, there were no canals or skeletons or wind-blown ruined dwellings or sand-filled swimming pools. Today, not a single trace remains of Viking Landers 3 and 4. But myth (and conspiracy theories) have it that an alien survey was commissioned of planet Earth (possibly triggered by reverberations from the fate of Viking Lander 4), remnants of which have been captured and published from time to time. Oddly, the photographs show no great wonders of civilisations. However, a certain monotonous, low-level aesthetic pervades the images with a degree of continuity, suggesting that these things are common. In the Earthly vernacular these photographs ‘are of Nowheresville. Yet, for some people, they are the centre of the universe’. Usually they call it Home.
EXHIBITION
In Part of Les Rencontres d’Arles
A New Refutation Of The Viking 4 Space Mission
Peter Mitchell
From July 4th to September 25th, 2016
Grande Halle
Les Ateliers
13200 Arles
France
http://www.rencontres-arles.com
http://www.strangelyfamiliar.co.uk
