The Bizarre, Tangled Tale of the Only Sculpture on the Moon

Hello ATS,

to those of you who didn't know, like myself, about this amazing but bizarre untold story going behind the curtains of the Apollo 15 mission of putting a man made artwork on the Moon.
Great read, with lots of turnovers.
I wont reveal everything here. Below is a first paragraph of the story, so fasten your seatbelts, it's a long read.
One cannot shake the feeling how many events like this are there which had happened far from the public eyes.

One crisp March morning in 1969, artist Paul van Hoeydonck was visiting his Manhattan gallery when he stumbled into the middle of a startling conversation. Louise Tolliver Deutschman, the gallery’s director, was making an energetic pitch to Dick Waddell, the owner. “Why don’t we put a sculpture of Paul’s on the moon,” she insisted. Before Waddell could reply, van Hoeydonck inserted himself into the exchange: “Are you completely nuts? How would we even do it?”

Deutschman stood her ground. “I don’t know,” she replied, “but I’ll figure out a way.”

She did.

The Sculpture on the Moon



Merry Christmas

Very interesting, the article was kind of long but worth the read. I never knew of this before as an artist myself, I do not see the problem with this, an artist made a representative statuette for the astronauts/cosmonauts being completely neutral in its make up, it is very simple and yet leaves it vague as to whether the statue or the plaque leaves the name of the artist. I think lots of jealousy was in play here as a prime motivator to all the negative rebuke this artist recieved.

Assuming anyone ever landed on the moon to display this "sculpture", I would hope Human artistic endeavors would have been better represented. Sorry, but it screams voodoo doll to me.

I only viewed the image and did not read the lonnnng article since in my mind, Humans have never set foot on the moon anyway.

hurdygurdy
Assuming anyone ever landed on the moon to display this "sculpture", I would hope Human artistic endeavors would have been better represented. Sorry, but it screams voodoo doll to me.

I only viewed the image and did not read the lonnnng article since in my mind, Humans have never set foot on the moon anyway.

Well that's too bad. Someone with your leanings should be interested in all things Apollo. Who knows maybe the article or details surrounding this sculpture could contain clues to help you make your case. To just brush it off seems like maybe you're done researching this event? You're totally convinced and no other information could be of any use to you? For the record I'm on the fence yet skeptical about any moon landing hoax.

Op: Thanks for sharing this information which I was not aware of. I'm a little over halfway through the article and I am glued! A very interesting side story to the whole moon mission saga. Excellent read!

Aha, so there ARE statues on the Moon! Well, a single statue, then.

Hi-res images from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal:
www.hq.nasa.gov...
www.hq.nasa.gov...



And there's even a stereo anaglyph (get your red-green glasses out):
www.hq.nasa.gov...

The memorial is next to the LRV in its final parking place: www.hq.nasa.gov...

If these images weren't taken on the Moon, where were they taken? Certainly not in a vacuum chamber or a studio. You can see the terrain stretching on for miles, harsh black shadows and the black sky, and many terrain features in Apollo 15 photos can be matched exactly to LRO images.

Great...more garbage on the moon. Everywhere we go we leave our trash and destroy the pristine nature of things. Why can't we follow the motto of, "Leave it as you found it", or "Leave no Trace".
I am not impressed, but then again, I think dogs playing cards is art.

Mankind...

Face down in the dirt.

It's the implied message that bothers me, regardless of whether it's "moon" dirt or not.
.

Sparky63
Great...more garbage on the moon. Everywhere we go we leave our trash and destroy the pristine nature of things. Why can't we follow the motto of, "Leave it as you found it", or "Leave no Trace".
I am not impressed, but then again, I think dogs playing cards is art.

There was no way for them to take the descent module or the lunar rovers off the Moon. Besides, a lot of equipment they left there is scientific equipment that continued to provide valuable information about lunar geology.

Ther Moon is very big, there are plenty of "pristine nature" places.

The concept of leaving something symbolic on the moon to represent the fallen astronauts was an inspired idea but I think size, weight and material limitations being what they were left few options for what that would be. The end result? - It reminds me of a lego figure.

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


Loved this article. Thanks for sharing. I had heard the name before, but never knew what it referred to, apart from something 'spacey'.

Thanks for sharing.

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


Interesting concept, putting Human artwork on the Moon...better than missiles at least.

But, i have to say..this artist van Hoeydonck's work looks about the standard churned out by a 5 year old.

I have two Sons under 10 years old, both of whom have produced as good or better artwork...frankly, if ET stumbled across that little Human sculpture, i'd be embarrassed.