In David Bowie's song, "Life on Mars," he sings about a world spinning out of control. Bowie poses the question of whether Mars is a place to escape to, or whether we're on Mars already, because this world we live in has become so strange and unfamiliar to us.

Although every exhibition has an organizing principle, for the first time in its history, this installment of the Carnegie International has a title -- "Life on Mars." The title -- appropriated from the Bowie song -- doesn't apply only to artists dealing with aliens or even themes of alienation, but rather functions as a way of organizing the show and addressing the experience of living in the world today. "Life on Mars" poses a poetic question of longing, and of trying to connect. It relates not only to a literal search for extra-terrestrial life, but also to sending out signals in the dark, and hoping to get a response.

For me, the most wonderful part of pulling together the exhibition was writing the script - the title, the story line -- and then making connections between different artists. I built up the exhibition one artist at a time, including artists working in many different media -- film, painting, performance - who work all over the world. The aesthetic sensibility of two artists in particular -- Paul Thek and Mario Merz, both of whom are no longer living -- helped guide me in creating this list. Even though the artists whom I ultimately selected are living in different places around the globe, and working in different media, there is a shared sensibility. All of the artists emphasize the modest over the monumental, and the hand-made over the machine-made. Also, all of the artists I chose have a way of finding and conveying the poetic wonder in the everyday world.

Every curator is a product of their particular time, as well as their own personal history. This show is the show I had to do right now. There will be 40 artists in the exhibition, which is a typical amount of artists for the International, and there will be public installations like other shows. What's different is the title, which led to a common thread that can be found in the work, like the humble materials with which much of the artwork is made, and the poetic nature of the work I included.

Contemporary art has the capacity to ask challenging questions about the world in which we live. It's okay if you can't answer them, or if you are perplexed when you leave the gallery. What's most important about an exhibition like this is creating a real dialogue, both between the artists, as well as with the larger community. It's an amazing honor to be the curator of the 55th Carnegie International, and to be creating a conversation about international contemporary art here to Pittsburgh.