Lunation, a group-curated show, opens today at Brooklyn’s Observatory:
Artists and scientists have always been attracted to the moon. . . Our closest celestial neighbor, the earth’s little sister, the moon creates the tides and illuminates the woods at night. For centuries, humanity believed the moon provided a key into the invisible realm: it called out the beast within us, freeing us to act as wolves, to run, to dance, to chant—and sometimes (as in Duncan Jones’ Moon) to split in two, to find our double, our changeling moon-self.
Is the moon home to life? Today we know it isn’t, but even as of 1830, speculation was rampant that the moon was inhabited by Christianized bat-people who worshiped in great ziggurats. (See The Sun and the Moon by Observatory alumnus Matthew Goodman for details.) Still, life comes to the moon. We know the moon contains frozen water, and we dream of using it as our jumping-off point for visiting even more alien vistas. . .
I’ve read the Sun and the Moon, and it’s a great book; any show that draws inspiration from it is one I’d like to see. And how great is the exhibition poster?
Reception, 7pm Saturday January 7, at Observatory.