The Future Was Cancelled

Modern art often treats space exploration in a mocking and playful manner, which is emblematic of our diminished aspirations to conquer the stars. 1972 was the last time that humans actually travelled to and walked upon the Moon. In 1999, by contrast, artist Aleksandra Mir staged her happening First Woman on the Moon - in which, as Topham explains, a beach at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands, was transformed by mechanical diggers into a crater-filled landscape, and participants enacted their own lunar landing while children played among the giant sandcastles. Genuine space exploration seems to have become subordinate to cultural kitsch. In the absence of substantial state funding, even pioneers of real-life space exploration missions have to turn their work into a cultural gimmick in order to win investment and publicity. Topham describes how the Beagle 2 probe currently travelling to Mars was dressed up as a piece of Cool Brittania: Blur composed a track based on a mathematical sequence to act as a call sign once the Beagle has landed. A spot painting by Damien Hirst will be used as an instrument calibration chart to check everything is in order after touchdown.
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