Last month, Elon Musk made a stunning announcement with Japanese culture icon Yusaku Maezawa: Maezawa will be the first person to travel around the Moon onboard the SpaceX BFR rocket. Joining Maezawa on the rocket will be 6-8 artists he’ll select from around the world for the unique experience. But while SpaceX develops technology to get people around and to the Moon, another artist is using the Moon as inspiration for a massive undertaking: turning the round rock into a cube. The moon, which is only 27% the size of the Earth, is still huge, and such an art project would be the largest of its kind in our Solar System.
Daniel Libeskind recently told the NY Times about his dream project. “I like that this project is about art rather than science. So my proposal is to turn the moon itself into an art project: It’s a sphere and I want to turn it into a perfect square. That’s the dream,” Libeskind told the NY Times. But rather than carve or cut the huge object, Libeskind wants to paint it to make it appear as a square from Earth rather than the round object it really is. To “delete” the curvature of the moon, Libeskind wants to paint four spherical caps on the moon with black paint. Such an endeavor would be huge; Libeskind estimates the cost of paint alone would be $10trillion. He told the NY Times, “Think of how amazing it would be to watch the phases shift; the light come across the visible portion, the craters, the Sea of Tranquillity, all framed by this rigid black square. Like a Malevich or Mondrian painting hanging in the sky. Literally a lunatic project.”
While such a “lunatic project” is unlikely due to cost and technology, getting Maezawa on a trip around the Moon is very likely; Elon Musks expects the trip to occur as soon as 2023.
Founder of Japanese fashion label Zozo, Maezawa says he thought long and hard prior to committing to not only purchasing a seat on the flight, but the entire cabin of the BFR. “Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon….it continues to inspire humanity,” Maezawa said. To get others to share his inspiration and vision, he is inviting 6-8 artists to join him for the journey around the Moon. Possible passengers include film directors, painters, dancers, novelists, musicians, fashion designers, sculptors, photographers, or architects. More details will be made public in the coming days on Maezawa’s website http://dearmoon.earth and through his social media channels using the hashtag #dearMoon.
