Exploration has captivated artist Tavares Strachan from the beginning, so it follows that the germ for his Mattress Factory installation was the ultimate frontier -- outer space.

"Primarily, I've always been interested in exploration," Strachan says, "whether it's physical exploration or conceptual exploration."

This from an artist who caused a stir in 2005 when he traveled to the Alaskan Arctic, where he spent 16 days extracting a 4.5 ton block of ice. He shipped the Arctic ice to his native Bahamas and displayed it, in a glass freezer powered by solar energy, behind the Nassau elementary school he'd attended.

The piece, "The Distance Between What We Have and What We Want (Arctic Ice Project)," was exhibited in Florida during the 2006 Art Basel Miami Beach, by Pierogi Gallery and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York galleries that represent Strachan.

Whether seen as an audacious assertion of artistic vision, an environmental commentary on the shrinking ice caps, a reference to the numerous displacements occurring in our globalized world, a geographical and sensory play off of fire and ice and its corresponding and varied relational ramifications, or something more, the work caught the attention and praise of visitors and critics.

From observations of the sound of an ant walking to the creation of cloud machines, Strachan has pursued discoveries in worlds established and of his making, or remaking.

"This [Mattress Factory] project fits along that trajectory," says Strachan, who holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MFA from Yale University.

The two-part work, "Where do we go from here (from The Orthostatic Tolerance)," features a perky little rover wandering a dead star (located inside the museum) and a gadget-filled command center (in the parking lot) that communicate with one another.

It's a fitting work for the exhibition "Inner and Outer Space" (to be more fully addressed in a future column), which itself segues nicely with the 2008 Carnegie International, "Life on Mars," although both artist and curator affirm that their ideas were conceived independently of that show's theme.

"I'm addressing the idea of exploration very directly," Strachan says. But far from simply, as the artist probes into realms mental, cultural, philosophical, historical and social, as well as scientific and aesthetic.

"That complexity is something that drives me ... what I'm attracted to."

The rover, for example, takes periodic measurements from a sparkly black landscape made up of coal grains and chunks, a nod to the region's industrial and ethnic past. Its format is a diorama, a reference to the venerable, if out of fashion, natural history museum display unit.

The trailer headquarters for this "Polaris Mission" (to the North Star, a navigational marker for centuries of explorers) sports a Bahamian coat of arms and the logo of a faux center for aerospace and sea exploration of Strachan's design.

Strachan, who divides his time between the Bahamas and New York City, considered the influence that having been born on an island 24-by-7 miles in size had on his life and interests.

Being surrounded by water and sky was "my reality" he says, a presence reflected, respectively, in the coat of arms' boat, dolphin and waves and its flamingo and sun. The archipelago, comprising some 700 islands, has attracted explorers, and conquerors, since the 13th century, he adds.

"The island kind of does it in a way -- it forces you to leave it and stay at the same time."

As Strachan pushes and pulls between the physical boundaries of the museum and its exterior, between fanciful and factual, he inspires the visitor to move between imagination and experience. How does one feed off the other, influence the perception of each? How much does the balance between them determine the personality -- interests, profession, character, even critical capability -- of an individual?

The territory is exotic, deliciously seductive and spongy -- like walking in a bog.

While traversing it, one might keep in mind what Strachan says of his rover, "He's not really on the North Star -- but he thinks he is."

The exhibition continues through Jan. 11 at 500 Sampsonia Way, North Side. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10, seniors $8, students $7, children under 6 and members free; half-price on Thursdays. For information: 412-231-3169 or www.mattress.org.