Just as Armstrong left the first footprint on the surface of the moon, Little will leave the first painting.
June 24, 2003 (Press Release) --
P R E S S R E L E A S E
First painting on the Moon
July 10th 2002
In a move that goes against the grain of what most consider acceptable limits for the presentation of art, London based artist Stephen Little is to push this limit even further by having his work transported to the Moon. Little is sending his art work to the surface of the moon with the US based aerospace company TransOrbital, Inc. Due for launch next year, their commercial lunar orbiter ‘Trailblazer’ will include his work as part of its payload.
It’s not that the private sector lacks the know-how to get to the Moon. "The science required is around 30 years old," says Dennis Laurie, president of TransOrbital in La Jolla, California. Laurie is excited by the opportunity of supporting Little’s project by transporting his artwork to the moon and according to Laurie, the Trailblazer craft is 80 percent complete and could be ready for launch in a few months.
Once everything is in place, the 520-kilogram orbiter will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Russian Denepr rocket. Four days and around 384,000 kilometres later, the craft will enter lunar orbit. Trailblazer will also take video footage of the flight from Earth orbit to the Moon and will send back high definition colour video of surface features down to a resolution of one metre. After three months Trailblazer will put down on the lunar surface. When it does, Little’s work, an image of an astronaut with an orange painting on one side and a single, painted orange monochrome on the other, will remain there with it.
How strange to see a person floating in space, even stranger – art. The astronaut and the monochrome are contextualised in such a way that the end goal is seen to be one and the same, contextualised within the technology that will take it to the surface of the Moon. Two seemingly unrelated creatures, one representing the rational logic of science, the other, the subjective and irrational, now joined at the hip in pursuit of the same agenda. The images may represent an exploration of our dreams and desires but are also symbolic of the collected oneness of our multifaceted and often unbalanced selves in the pursuit of a common goal.
It seems fitting that he will create an historic moment. Just as Armstrong left the first footprint on the surface of the moon, Little will leave the first painting.
As for the title "I love you, always, and without measure. I send this word of love to the Moon that it may shine upon you daily. I love you, always & forever, to the Moon & back…" Little states, "It’s as much to do with life and who we are as it is to do with art. When something we hold close to our heart leaves us, it’s normal to openly proclaim our love for it." He may have given it a lengthy title, but it is also going on a very long journey, and with little gravity and no oxygen, you probably couldn’t ask for a better archive…
FURTHER INFO / CONTACT:
First painting on the Moon
July 10th 2002
In a move that goes against the grain of what most consider acceptable limits for the presentation of art, London based artist Stephen Little is to push this limit even further by having his work transported to the Moon. Little is sending his art work to the surface of the moon with the US based aerospace company TransOrbital, Inc. Due for launch next year, their commercial lunar orbiter ‘Trailblazer’ will include his work as part of its payload.
It’s not that the private sector lacks the know-how to get to the Moon. "The science required is around 30 years old," says Dennis Laurie, president of TransOrbital in La Jolla, California. Laurie is excited by the opportunity of supporting Little’s project by transporting his artwork to the moon and according to Laurie, the Trailblazer craft is 80 percent complete and could be ready for launch in a few months.
Once everything is in place, the 520-kilogram orbiter will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Russian Denepr rocket. Four days and around 384,000 kilometres later, the craft will enter lunar orbit. Trailblazer will also take video footage of the flight from Earth orbit to the Moon and will send back high definition colour video of surface features down to a resolution of one metre. After three months Trailblazer will put down on the lunar surface. When it does, Little’s work, an image of an astronaut with an orange painting on one side and a single, painted orange monochrome on the other, will remain there with it.
How strange to see a person floating in space, even stranger – art. The astronaut and the monochrome are contextualised in such a way that the end goal is seen to be one and the same, contextualised within the technology that will take it to the surface of the Moon. Two seemingly unrelated creatures, one representing the rational logic of science, the other, the subjective and irrational, now joined at the hip in pursuit of the same agenda. The images may represent an exploration of our dreams and desires but are also symbolic of the collected oneness of our multifaceted and often unbalanced selves in the pursuit of a common goal.
It seems fitting that he will create an historic moment. Just as Armstrong left the first footprint on the surface of the moon, Little will leave the first painting.
As for the title "I love you, always, and without measure. I send this word of love to the Moon that it may shine upon you daily. I love you, always & forever, to the Moon & back…" Little states, "It’s as much to do with life and who we are as it is to do with art. When something we hold close to our heart leaves us, it’s normal to openly proclaim our love for it." He may have given it a lengthy title, but it is also going on a very long journey, and with little gravity and no oxygen, you probably couldn’t ask for a better archive…
FURTHER INFO / CONTACT:
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