“What we habitually ignore shapes our perception and existence more profoundly than what we consciously focus on.”
Kexin Chen
What happens when another species tries to understand us? Evidence shows that we are closer than ever to making contact
with an extraterrestrial civilization. This project begins with the speculative scenario of alien archaeologists
encountering the Pioneer Plaque—one of the most significant messages sent by humans into deep space. Through this
imagined interaction, my study explores how human identity might be reconstructed and reinterpreted through a non-human
lens. Through a posthumanist perspective, I reframe the plaque as a fossil of human presence, inviting new readings of
who we are beyond biology and cognition. In a universe where we may never speak for ourselves, this work considers how
others might come to define us.
A detailed view of the visual message on the Pioneer plaques
The Pioneer Plaque was carried on Pioneers 10 and 11 in the 1970s, identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future.
Bipedal, 3rd Specimen, 4th Object Cataloged
What does it mean to be human in this cosmos? How will humanity be remembered? This project takes a speculative approach discussing human’s self portrait and the interpretation of humanity in the cosmos.
Bipedal, 3rd Specimen, 4th Object Cataloged
The Plaques are presented in this work as tangible evidence of a creature, humanity, within the cosmos, showcased as fossilized remains of humans. Across the vastness of time, it speaks in whispers, waiting for interpretation.
Bipedal, 3rd Specimen, 4th Object Cataloged
Staying in a lab 4 million years away from the Solar System, the time NASA’s Pioneer 11 estimates it will take before it reaches real extraterrestrials in the constellation of Aquila, The project represents the research site where extraterrestrial archaeologists have just left, leaving behind the workspace where they were testing and analyzing their findings.
Publication: An alien archeologist project on an unwritten being
This publication is based on my speculative design project Bipedal, 3rd Specimen, 4th Object Cataloged. It takes the form of a report penned by alien archaeologists on a mission to find fossils of "unwritten beings." By adopting this non-human perspective and the methods of recording, the book explores humanity and probes the very definition of what it means to be human.
Publication: An alien archeologist project on an unwritten being
Structured as an archive, the book's format itself served to highlight the fundamental nature of my work. All hand-made.
The Inner Pages
