From faking the Apollo Moon missions to Flat Earth theory, conspiracy theorists have indicted NASA as a branch of the government’s propaganda machine. Those who deny the legitimacy of NASA’s scientific endeavors contend that NASA’s mission is not to explore space but something more insidious: to produce and disseminate space-related disinformation to control public discourse and beliefs.

If these conspiracy theories are true, then the wildly popular images of star fields, swirling galaxies, colorful nebulas, and gas clouds are not real observations of the universe, but are fabrications created by hired artists. Playing along with these conspiracies, by fabricating every piece in this installation from scratch, down to the planks of lumber used for the vitrines, Field Guide to Fields attempts to answer this question: if hired, how would artists craft a matrix of space, and what evidence might remain in an institutional archive of their misdoings?

Handmade cherry vitrines, artist books and clamshell, intaglio plates, intaglio prints on Somerset book, hand-ground charcoal on handmade paper, notepad: letterpress and linoleum block print on calligraphy and tissue paper, magnifying glasses, museum labels, laser etched plexiglass, intaglio plates, velvet.