Slashdot Mirror
The Strange Story Of the Sculpture On the Moon
braindrainbahrain writes "Slate magazine has written a story about the only work of art placed on the Moon: the Fallen Astronaut sculpture. It was placed on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission to commemorate both American and Soviet deceased astronauts. The little statue, rather than bringing fame and fortune, ended up being nearly forgotten, and got both Apollo astronaut David Scott and Belgian sculptor Van Hoeydonck in hot water with the U.S. government."
From TFA: "Now, after years of obscurity, Fallen Astronaut is making an unexpected comeback. Four decades after van Hoeydonck’s private meeting with the Smithsonian’s director, the Smithsonian invited the artist and his most famous sculpture out into the public for an absurdly belated lecture on Dec. 12 at the National Air and Space Museum"
That is the ugliest chunk of milled aluminum I have ever seen. I'd have been ashamed to admit creating it. They should have skipped the statue and just laid a larger plaque instead.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
The news is that the astronaut, the artist and the US government are together in a some kind of hot water arrangement, presumably since then.
The Chinese will recover it and put it on display in a Beijing museum. Plastic replicas on sale in the lobby gift shop.
Have gnu, will travel.
Whether this was, indeed, the intention or not, it could've been suspected. Indeed, TFA says, Van Hoeydonck was "accused of profiteering from the public space program". I personally see nothing particularly wrong with such "profiteering", but I would not work for the government either...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
The sculpture was meant to commemorate the dead astronauts and cosmonauts, not to promote the guy who made it. Van Hoeydonck failed to understand this, and that was his undoing.
The most interesting art on the Moon is the full-size replica of the Deutschlandhalle, built on the dark side.
It's where the Nazi Moon Olympics are held every four years, without any Jesse Owenses to spoil the fun.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Is this a promotional piece for the artist? Interesting that van Hoeyndonck's pride isn't in his chubby tuning fork, but in conning other people into doing a tremendous amount of work for him. "I am the only human being who has been able to get a sculpture to the moon." That, and the tendency of the Apollo era astronauts to be stand-up guys, makes me skeptical of skewing all those misunderstandings in his favor. They negotiated pretty carefully with the stamp dealer, but didn't discuss the intention of the piece or marketing of copies or any timeline? I don't feel sorry for the guy, and am a little irked that this promotion will likely make him a pile of money.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Very few examples of form and function are this clear: as art, it's garbage, not in the least interesting in itself -- the word "generic" comes to mind -- and the motives and behavior of this creepy, untalented sculptor completely bear this out. As a memorial, it's touching and appropriate and a considerate gesture on Scott's behalf.
“The astronauts told me that when they met Nixon later he asked them, ‘The artist—he’s a Democrat?’ They said, ‘No, he’s Belgian,’ and he said, ‘OK.’
Wow, how'd they get the statue back from the moon?
Sure, as soon as you learn to let go of the past and live in the present.
They illegally downloaded it
rewriting history since 2109
Don't forget the allegedly smuggled "Moon Museum" etching on Apollo 12. Andy Warhol penis sketch FTW.
Wow, how'd they get the statue back from the studio where they faked the moon landing?
After the "FTFY" it was quite easy to get the statue back.
right, because the internet is so old, we shouldnt use it either. And cars, they are like 120 years old now! why would anyone use something so old!!
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Apollo 15 was like 40 years ago...
Amazing isn't it. Who knew??
I covered this exciting news back in September in this [failed] Slashdot submission,
Breakthrough: Manned Space Travel Achieved Using 40-Year Old Technology
TheRealHocusLocus writes
"Paul Rosenberg has uncovered some surprising new evidence that manned space travel is not only possible, it has actually been achieved using decades-old technology. Some 40 years in the making, a tale too amazing to remain untold. With a few quaint photographs he asks, could we build this? The answer is no. Or is it? It is uplifting to read that "Productive humans have been delegated to mute observance as their hard-earned surplus is syphoned off to capital cities, where it is sanctimoniously poured down a sewer of cultured dependencies and endless wars..." for it must take something really compelling to prevent us from reaching the stars, and he has nailed it. This essay makes the case that the headliner of 2052 may well be: Breakthrough: Manned Space Travel Achieved Using 80-Year Old Technology. I can hardly wait! Down with robots."
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
It only is a matter of time before the Outer Space Treaty gets tossed. Think China would keep it, if it means significant economic and military gains? Doubtful, as they are the only nation with the will, resources, and technology to land something on the moon right now.
This is a bit of jingoistic propraganda originating from the US during that time. It doesn't bother me, but the lack of self-reflection on it that it's still parroted does.
One should keep in mind Jesse Owens was treated worse upon returning to American than he was in Germany. In his own words.
"Hitler didn't snub me -- it was [FDR] who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram." - Jesse Owens, quoted in Triumph, a book about the 1936 Olympics by Jeremy Schaap
Guy went back to the states, had to stay in different hotel rooms or not served at all, unlike Europe, still treated like a "nigger".
http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth10.htm
Actually, this is proof that the moon landing wasn't faked. As all slashdot knows, it is extremely difficult to get something back from the moon -- but it can be done.
Getting anything from one of the studios is beyond impossible.
It doesn't matter. The point is, there's no need to shit on somebody else's art.
Why not? Art is in the eye of the beholder, and indeed people actually get paid to shit on other people's art (figuratively). If an artist can't take criticism, they need to get out of the art biz (though they can still produce crap for their friends).
Seriously, no one can criticize "art"?
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
The US flag is a piece of art.
Any Flag, really.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
please tell us about the real structures on the moon, you know, the 7 mile high ones .
The US flag is a work of art.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The MTV "Moon Man" would have been far better statue than that piece of junk.
Sorry, but a 3.5 inch toy is not a sculpture. It's a toy. And besides that most toys look better than this thing.
to me...even as a 10 year old kid, I remember every NASA flight, save for the first 2. It may seem like a long time ago, but to me, it doesn't seem that long ago.
No Statue could ever have survived the radiation belt to get to the moon! [/sarc]