The Verge: Yesterday, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX would send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to the Moon. Maezawa then announced that he would not be going alone. The founder of the Japanese online retailer Zozo, Maezawa is also a famed art collector who once paid $110 million for a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat. “I choose to go to the Moon with artists,” he said.
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Just as humanity has always been fascinated with the unknown, people have been fascinated with outer space. It is the potential of it all. The vast quantity of unknown and (at least at the current time) the never will be known that is deep space leaves so much room for creativity and imagination. The moon has never been so distant, but, because it is a part of the mysteries of space, it still retains the same aura. I think this project could yield some incredibly interesting works not only because of the fixation and fascination with space, but also because this trip will be a wholly unique experience. I think most of the artists and/or reasons this staff has suggested aren’t the right ones but with material like this who knows what they could create. I’d be interested to see how it plays out and what work comes out of it. I hope it’s not only a range of artistic fields but of artistic styles and cultures as well.
I grew up in Cape Canaveral, Florida and dreamed of going to space. We often had astronauts and NASA scientists visit my school and we took field trips to the facilities every year. As I got older, the thought of going to space grew further and further out of reach until I eventually let it go entirely and settled into my life as an artist.
My brother and I love following what Elon Musk is doing with SpaceX and what it means for the future of human exploration as well as simple human travel. Reading this article deepened my curiosity into this future and what could come of it.
The idea of sending artists into space just to see what they’ll make when they get back is so inspirational, and I really admire that it was Maezawa’s first thought when he was chosen to go to the moon. We are often quick to judge the rich and their intentions, so it’s humbling and reassuring to see someone so wealthy using his money to share an experience with people that can immortalize it in ways that others can then experience and connect to.
I hope this expedition comes to fruition and I am even more excited to see what the artists chosen create if it does.
The thought that space travel is ever so slowly going to become more open to the public is crazy. Most people dream of getting to go to space and experiencing zero gravity, looking at the moon up close, and seeing the entire earth from high above the atmosphere; so much so that it becomes romanticized and depicted in many different ways. But as we learned from the “Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth,” it becomes a reality to only the most qualified, healthy, and disciplined individuals. An extremely small percentage of the people who go all the way to applying to become an astronaut will be able to become one, as less than that will actually get to leave the Earth. But now that someone without all of the qualifications and training will be able to take off into space opens up a lot of possibilities and questions about the future of spaceflight. I really enjoy that Maezawa’s first intention was to not bring other rich people, but creators. “These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us”(Maezawa).
In terms of the artists I think should be sent to space, I think that one of them should definitely be a composer. Music has always been something that can tie a lot of people together, and be incredibly moving and inspiring as well. I’m not really talking about the people who compose music for pop or rap songs, but rather the ones who write amazing soundtracks like Joe Hisaishi (he composed the music for Ghibli movies), or those who compose in a more classical/timeless manner. I also think a film director would be good to send to the moon because they could then be inspired to create films based on their experiences. But no matter who they chose to go, I hope the plan comes to fruition and I look forwards to seeing what happens with it all.
“Which artists should Spacex send to the Moon?”. Angela Chen brings up that Japanese art collector and billionaire plans to go to the moon with artists. Maezawa said that these artists “‘will be asked to create something after they return to earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within us all”, this is important. Many different selections of various artist will probably be successful. I agree with the decision Maezawa’s decision to have them “‘represent many different fields’”, through different medium we can experience how the moon looked, smelt and felt. There is probably many ways to support many different choices of artists. I would love to see work from a Novelist, Photographer, Film Director or Sculptor. Any type of artist that would help bring their experience to us, work that can bring us to the moon to, whether documentation or interpretation. I think that would be important motive in the artist(s) who go to the moon. It would help “‘inspire the dreamer within all of us’”.
This article intrigued me in terms of the connection between arts and sciences. The two coexist so neatly together that they can cause chaos and/or harmony. As someone who loves learning chemistry, physics, and theater, this article gave me a chance to think through my personal connections with them both. The beautiful artistry that could come out from artists visiting the moon blows my mind just thinking about it. While everyone that spoke on which artists should be taken all have valid opinions, some definitely seemed more narrow-minded than others. Cory Zapatka touched on the topic of sending more classical artists, such as Yo-Yo Ma, rather than an artist like Azaelia Banks. Which is disheartening to read in the sense that different genres and different artists can all create timeless art in their own interpretations. While I don’t listen to Banks, I can still respect her craft and process as an artist and would like to see someone of her genre interpreting what it’s like to travel to the moon.
Well, I guess I am out of the running. I remember in high school when the idea of going to the moon, not as an astronaut but just as an explorer was first brought up, and I found some application and signed up. Never heard back, thanks Elon Musk. Anyway, I do think the idea of bringing different artists to the moon, as crazy as it sounds is kind of brilliant. As a science nerd I follow a lot of astronauts on instagram who are constantly posting pictures from there phones of views from the space station, and I definitely think that there is a certain mindset about a scientist that you can see in the pictures. An artist will focus on the composition and the quality of what they are capturing, where as a scientist is looking more for the elements they can capture. The names that were being suggested by the editors are a wide variety, and I hope that is what the group ends up to be, people from all different walks of life.
SpaceX is a wild wild company, that I think is really pushing the envelope as far as what is possible for spaceflight in this day and age. I am, however, not sure about the "rockstar" quality of the CEO and founder, Elon Musk. The jury's still out on whether this quality has helped SpaceX as well as his other ventures like Tesla and SolarCity, but so far, I guess the publicity is in his favour. In the long term, however, I think that the unpredictability of his personality is probably dangerous to the overall image of these companies as they graduate from sophomore tech companies to fully-fledged industry giants. A recent incident, when Elon Musk went onto Joe Rogan's podcast and smoked weed, riled up investors and made the Tesla and spaceX stock drop 60 points. I don't exactly disapprove of this behaviour, but I think that it is totally unfair to the myriads of scientists and engineers who are pouring their life's work into spaceX and tesla, only to have the reputation of their companies compromised by a rockstar CEO.
I have really wanted to go to space for several years, and I’m planning on spending my life creating art. Even so, I almost wouldn’t want to be chosen for this project (I mean who am I kidding? I would go if I somehow could) because of the immense pressure that would be placed on me. I can’t imagine being given an approximately ten million dollar ticket and then being asked to create a piece of art to change the world. It is an extremely worthy project, but the chosen artists will be.... stressed, to say the least. All that said, I hope at least one musician or musical composer is chosen, as I think it is one of the most effective and efficient mediums through which to reach a large number of people and make them feel something. Whether the music created is lyrical or not I think is immaterial and ultimately comes to personal preference, but I do believe that music has a particularly strong connection to human emotion, and it would be a lost opportunity to not include at least one composer or songwriter on SpaceX’s lunar trip.
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