Work of the Week: 19/02/21
Nasa’s science rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology laboratory ever sent to another planet, landed safely on the surface of Mars this week beginning its mission to find traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet. It’s an exciting scientific moment, and no doubt awakened dreams of one day walking and even living on Mars for many Earthlings.
But the reality - as FRED & FARID Los Angeles' impressive film for Greta Thunberg's global climate change movement Fridays For Future, reminds us - is that the vast majority of humans will never end up colonising another planet. As the psychedelic riffmongers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard sing, the future of the Red Planet is ‘Mars for the Rich’. Meanwhile us 99% who can’t afford to escape the biosphere we’ve wrecked will be stuck living with the consequences of the climate crisis humanity has caused.
It’s not a message that gives me instant Friday feelings, I’ll be honest. But the campaign does its job admirably, reminding us to remember that we have a planet in urgent need of care under our feet.
That’s just one in a bevvy of great ideas this week, as the gears of the creativity industry continue to grind out unexpected delights from all across the Blue Planet.
