Republic of the Moon Exhibition

As super-nations of the world race to explore outer space, a touring exhibition is depicting the moon as a privileged territory for poetic and playful celestial colonisation.

Republic of the Moon was created by seven international artists who have offered their visions for lunar life. Collaborators include Liliane Lijn, Leonid Tishkov, Andy Gracie, Sharon Houkema, Agnes Meyer Brandis and WE COLONISED THE MOON.

Lijn’s project, moonmeme, combines territorial appropriation, technology and mythologies. In the (so far unrealised) work, Lijn uses the lunar surface as a screen by projecting the word ‘SHE’ onto the moon with a laser beam, large enough to be seen from earth. It reminds us of the feminine principles associated with the moon, though as the lunar cycle shifts, ‘SHE’ will become ‘HE.’ The concept also draws awareness to the potential of space becoming a realm for advertising.

Anges Meyer Brandis’ The Moon Goose Analogue was inspired by real astronauts who train for the psychological challenges of living in space. Brandis bred 11 ‘moon geese’ to live in a lunar analogue in Italy, where she trained them for expeditions. The experiment is a contemporary vision of an ancient legend about moon geese towing a chariot to the moon.

The exhibition was curated by The Arts Catalyst and Liverpool’s FACT gallery, where it opened yesterday and can be seen until 26 February, 2012.

Photos courtesy The Arts Catalyst.