Moon Phases by artist Jeff Koons was launched on a rocket to the moon at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Astronaut Kate Rubins wearing artwork spacesuit created by cancer patients PIC: Jeff Koons Studio/ NASA
We know of cave art, ceilings art, public art, at centres and museums. Now, we have art in space as well. Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor is planning to send a huge sculpture roughly the size of a house into the Earth’s orbit so it could be seen from the ground with the naked eye. While the details are still ‘work in progress’, the artist has mentioned the possibility of using mirrored or reflective elements so it catches the light and becomes a visible presence against the sky.
For this particular space project, Kapoor has indicated that he wants to “bring back the early sense of adventure in space.”
In an interview with a London-based paper, Kapoor expressed his disdain over commercialisation of space, calling current space politics ‘rather disgusting’, regarding the plan to send artwork into orbit. While the project would use existing rocket technology to place the sculpture into orbit, the funding is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the exact figure is yet to be disclosed.
Brief History
Ironically, that his endeavour just adds to already existing space debris has obviously been lost on the artist.
In the past, artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Claes Oldenburg, have been part of space explorations. In 1969, as Apollo 12 headed toward the Moon, a tiny ceramic tile known as the Moon Museum was secretly attached to the lunar lander. It carried microscopic drawings by Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Claes Oldenburg. The piece was invisible to the naked eye.
Two years later, art officially arrived on the lunar surface. Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck’s Fallen Astronaut was placed on the Moon during Apollo 15 in 1971, accompanied by a plaque honouring astronauts and cosmonauts who had died in the pursuit of space exploration. Small, solemn, and controversial, the sculpture introduced a new idea: art in space could function as a memorial, carrying human emotion.
Later, contemporary artists began working directly with space agencies and private aerospace companies, treating orbit and deep space as legitimate exhibition venues. One of the most discussed examples is Jeff Koons, who in 2022 sent Moon Phases to the Moon aboard a SpaceX mission. The project consisted of 125 small sculptures representing the lunar cycle, one for each Apollo astronaut, housed in a transparent structure designed to withstand the Moon’s harsh environment. Each sculpture is named after people who have made great accomplishments in human history, like Plato, David Bowie, Cleopatra, Andy Warhol, Leonardo da Vinci and Sojourner Truth. Since the 15.5-inch replicas of each mini sculpture remain on Earth, the sculptures have their own NFTs too. Koons’ project marked a shift in how space art is funded and no longer dependent on government agencies, where artists can now collaborate with private space companies.
In 2018, Trevor Paglen launched Orbital Reflector, a giant, diamond-shaped inflatable satellite designed to be visible from Earth as a moving point of light. Paglen described it as a ‘non-functional satellite’, essentially a sculpture in orbit. Though it failed to deploy properly and burned up in the atmosphere, the work sparked fierce debate on whether it was poetic or just space junk.
Beyond the Frame
Meanwhile, the International Space Station has hosted performances, drawings, and musical compositions created in microgravity. Astronauts themselves become artists, documenting Earth through photography or art. Like NASA astronaut Kate Rubins wore the ‘Courage’ spacesuit composed of artwork from pediatric cancer patients in 2022. As part of a programme to help patients cope with their cancer treatments through art, the Spacesuit Art Project invited over 530 pediatric cancer patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and support personnel to paint canvas strips. The hand-painted art pieces were stitched together and incorporated into three spacesuits that were fittingly named ‘Hope’, ‘Courage’ and ‘Unity’. With this, art in space is not only accompanied by humans, but can also become a cultural record.
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