A Pittsburgh museum beams up Apichatpong Weerasethakul to discover what Rover couldn't

Is there life on Mars? To answer that question, the Carnegie Museum of Art turned not to scientists, but to an eclectic group of artists.

Among the 40 from 17 countries exhibiting works in "Life on Mars" is Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Other space explorers in the museum's vast halls include Mike Kelley, Thomas Hirschorn and David Shrigley and Ryan Gander.

American artist Kelley's "Kandors" turn the Hall of Sculpture into a breathtaking, otherworldly landscape, inspired by the Kryptonian city in the Superman comics.

In another chamber, Switzerland's Hirschhorn has installed a vast series of caves made of cardboard, tape and plywood and filled with foil-covered mannequins. Instead of primitive drawings, there are posters of pinup models and rock stars.

Englishman David Shrigley has converted the Treasure Room into a gallery of oddities that includes a taxidermied kitten holding a wooden sign that declares "I'm Dead".

Ryan Gander's "Man on a Bridge" was a hit with the schoolboys. The video installation consists of 50 10-second clips of a man walking across a bridge and looking over the railing.

Subtle variations in the scenes kept the boys interested for a few moments until one declared it to be "rated R - R for retarded".

As you approach Apichatpong's installation, "Unknown Forces", the techno-space music of Cyndi Seui pulsates, inviting visitors to come join the party.

A pink fluorescent light illuminates the entrance to the black box. Inside, there's a bench on one wall. On the other three are videos. To the left, a "mountain" - some canvas-covered object in a jungle clearing, surrounded by more festival fluorescent light sticks.

In front of you, Nitipong Thinthupatina exuberantly dances in the back of a pickup as it moves down the highway.

To the right are two more videos, each with a member of Apichatpong's stock company - actor Sakda Kaewbuadee and actress Jenjira Pongpas - sitting in the back of a pickup and talking to the camera.

"That one is so different," said a young man pointing out the "mountain" and its contrast to the pickup scenes in the other videos.

He was from the same group that seemed baffled by "Man on a Bridge".

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Alien life

"Life on Mars" continues until January 11 at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Apichatpong Weerasethakul received the $10,000 Fine Prize from the Fine Foundation. For more on the museum, see www.CMoA.org.