It appears that each scientific revolution that succeeded in eliminating a bit more the mysticism of the moon fell prey to a greater portion of its illusion. That the moon is both object and representation, but never a discourse, might explain why the NASA materials currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquire such an auratic dimension. and make the Apollo project appear as the world-historical work of land art that it is. The Apollo project was comprised of multiple missions, each of which involved a series of artefacts that allegedly remain on the surface of the moon today. If you’ve never thought to place NASA within the Pictures Generation, this exhibition-as-observatory presents the most reproduced images of American nationalism as a vehicle by which earth’s own satellite can be apprehended as a work of modern representation.
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