It may look like an ordinary door mat, but its creators insist the conceptual art piece could encourage alien life to visit Earth -- and help create a new kind of space archaeology.
Dubbed the "Cosmic Welcome Mat" it features swirls of red, sky blue, and violet against a black border, and is meant to convey a warm reception to all sentient life in the universe.
Experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats, who created the rug with space archaeologist Alice Gorman of Flinders University in Australia, aims to have similar mats placed all over the world.
Keats hopes eventually there will be a replica rug on "everybody's doorstep", adding that he is in early talks with NASA to have one placed at the International Space Station.
He says he has also been talking to the United Nations about a mat being placed at its headquarters in New York. An updated design of the mat is due to go on display at a Los Angeles gallery on Friday.
