Visual artist Juan José Cielo is thrilled to share that two of his video works—filmed during his tenure as artist‑in‑residence with Crew 181 at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)—will be projected onto the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge this spring. Running April 2 through April 27 (Wednesdays through Sundays, dusk to 11 PM), this large‑scale public exhibition invites New Yorkers to encounter Cielo’s Martian vision against the city skyline.
Cielo’s short film Runway (2017) transforms the Utah desert into an illuminated landing strip on Mars: blinking solar‑powered lights outline a runway while he, clad in a spacesuit, signals an imaginary spacecraft to touch down. In Does It Work on Mars? (2017), everyday Earth objects undergo gravity‑defying experiments—captured in mesmerizing slow motion—to reveal how life and tools adapt under Mars’s 38% gravity. Both pieces draw on MDRS’s role as a full‑scale analog research facility funded in part by NASA and designed to prepare scientists—and now artists—for the challenges of living and working on another world.
The projection series officially opens Thursday, April 3 at 6:30 PM with an artist‑led walkthrough beginning at Smack Mellon (92 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201). Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss Cielo’s creative process, the inspiration behind his Mars‑inspired experiments, and the broader mission of MDRS to unite science and art in imagining humanity’s future beyond Earth.
For more details about the projection schedule, visit https://dumbo.nyc/projections. We warmly welcome Mars Society members, space enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the intersection of art, science, and exploration to join us in celebrating this unique New York City experience.
