Terrestrial Tales: 100+ Takes on Earth
2019, Multi-channel Video Installation, 13:15, ETH Zurich, Marc Angélil, Department of ArchitectureIf we consider the historical globe as an early dataset—a material index of humanity's spatial, political, and cultural knowledge—how do contemporary planetary images from AI and satellites build upon or break from that legacy? In the transition from physical object to computational model, what is revealed about the relationship between technology, power, and how we imagine our place in the world?
Terrestrial Tales is a multi-channel video installation that explores how our understanding of the Earth has been shaped by evolving systems of data, visualization, and narrative. Drawing from a research archive of over one hundred historical globes by Marc Angélil and Carey Siress, the work examines the relationship between technology, representation, and humanity’s self-image.
The installation traces a visual genealogy of the planet, from hand-painted spheres to algorithmic renderings, revealing how each era encodes its worldview into the Earth’s image. Composed of 19 synchronized videos, the work weaves together historical documentation with contemporary media—juxtaposing sources as diverse as Bruno Latour’s lectures on Gaia and Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball—to explore how our perception of the planet oscillates between scientific model, ideological projection, and pop-cultural spectacle.
The project considers the globe as both an artifact and a dataset, a cumulative index through which humanity has sought to measure, contain, and visualize the world. Just as AI systems construct planetary-scale models through the accumulation of digital data, historical globes embody earlier attempts to totalize knowledge and assert control through representation. Together, these histories reveal that our maps of the earth are also maps of belief, each reflecting a distinct way of knowing, claiming, or imagining the planet. In an era of planetary computation, the project asks us to critically consider what kind of world is being constructed and by whom.
Introduction text — Marc Angélil Exhibition design — Ciro Miguel, Tobias Klauser in collaboration with Marc Angélil. Videos — Jenny Rodenhouse. Exhibition team — Marcin Ganczarski, Ellen Reinhard, David Roth, Cary Siress, Julian Schubert, Elena Schütz, and Leonard Streich.