Elinor Salomon

The intensifying use of Earth’s orbital space by an accelerating space industry gives rise to a plethora of new visual phenomena in the zenith - the vertical space above us. Amateur observers witness these phenomena with wonder and excitement, when in fact they are caused by human-made instruments ascending or descending into the atmosphere.

What are these visual signs trying to tell us? What meaning can we decipher from these aesthetic disruptions in regards to the state of the planet—the unsustainable economy, the pollution, and the lack of regulation for an accelerating industry?

Slow down don't get burned is a collection of visual evidence made by fellow humans and astronomical observatories, arranged according to their spatial distribution. The project presents tools for interpreting these spectacular phenomena, asking us to look beyond the spectacle, at the human and non-human interactions that cause them.