‘Filaments’ Artist Statement

Media: Eucalypt branches & sticks found on the side of the road, glue,  rubber balls & plastic lawn trimmer cord. I use mortar & tenon joints.

 ‘Filaments ’ are  biomorphic sculptures based on the idea of ‘Alien Contact’.

Life on earth exists because of the presence of the essential elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur. These elements are thought to have been created from the early conditions on earth or they may have come from space as in asteroid or meteor material. They may have come from another planet or moon of another planet. Rocks from Mars were thought to contain microbes. Titan and Europa, two moons of Jupiter are suspected of being able to sustain life. Earth could have or could be bombarded by other elements and microbes. Arsenic-eating microbes have been found in a Californian lake (Australian Sky & Telescope, May/June 2011, page 22).

Microscopic life forms could enter the Earth’s atmosphere and colonise parts of Earth. They could behave like weeds and take over the Earth when conditions are just right, for example, increased amounts of carbon dioxide, due to human-induced climate change! What would they look like? Would they look like us humans or a myriad of unrecognisable things?