Pareidolia

Pareidolia is part of the SYRIA2087 project continuation for the year 2020.

Pareidolia, derived from the Greek words para (beside or alongside) and eidōlon (image or shape), refers to the tendency to perceive familiar forms in random or natural images. “The Face on Mars” is a notable example of this phenomenon. It was an apparently humanoid set of features that appeared on the Martian plateau when photographed by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1977. Despite being a simple optical illusion, tricking the human eye with light and viewing angles, this image fueled speculation that the plateau was actually an architectural remnant of an ancient civilization on Mars. Here, an anthropomorphized volcanic stone is depicted as an allusion to a carved bust as a marker of archaeological and cultural belonging. Aesthetically borrowing from both “The Face on Mars” and examples of Menhir statues found in Syria during the late Iron Age, Pareidolia oscillates between a strong desire to discern the reflection of human culture in the past and the hubris of projecting our own image onto distant futures and topographies.

The graphics complementing Pareidolia are manipulated reflections of Mars surface photographs.

The project was presented as a solo exhibition titled “SYRIA2087. Fossils of the Future” at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg (06.2020 - 06.2021).