Clarissa Tossin’s MCA Denver solo museum exhibition presents recent and newly commissioned artworks that explore the causes and effects of rising temperatures on Earth and humankind’s rapidly evolving aspirations to explore territories on the Moon and Mars. Looking at our climate crisis through the lens of twenty-first-century Space exploration, Tossin draws connections between signs of environmental distress on our planet and the projected future of the Earth’s outer atmosphere and beyond.
Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1973, Tossin has for more than a decade grappled with the geopolitical causes of climate change and the legacies of colonialism through her research-based practice and choice of sculptural materials such as Amazonian-native latex, synthetic rubber (silicone), recycled plastic, repurposed cardboard from Amazon delivery boxes and meteorite powder. For her MCA Denver presentation, Tossin compares histories of resource extraction on Earth with plans already in development by the United States government and private companies for future resource extraction on the Moon, which is projected to facilitate the colonization of Mars.
