The journey of this "group of sculptures" will take place "later this year" and the partners of the adventure, Pace Verso, 4Space, NFMoon and Intuitive machines did not specify in their press release how many works were concerned by the project called Moon Phases.
Contacted by AFP, in particular on the size of the sculptures, the Pace galleries gave no details, while the press release explains that they will be contained in miniature CubeSat satellites, which measure in principle 10 cm on each side.
Jeff Koons, 67, one of the most expensive living artists in the world, is known for his kitsch and large works like the "balloon dog" or "Puppy", and which sometimes cause debate, like the "Bouquet of tulips" installed in the gardens of the Champs Elysées in Paris.
The greatest museums in the world exhibit it, from the MoMA in New York to the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
The launch will take place from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, as part of a “fully autonomous” mission, aboard the landers of Intuitive Machines, an American company which already works with NASA, specify the Pace galleries.
Each of the works will be attached to an NFT (non-fungible token), a unique digital version certified by blockchain technology, which will be sold on Earth.
According to the Pace galleries, part of the funds raised will go to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The Moon photographed in 2016 from South Africa RODGER BOSCH AFP
Confidential until 2020, NFTs have become ubiquitous on the art market in just a few months.
"I have always liked the idea of creating global art (...) now it becomes universal", explained the artist on a dedicated website (jeffkoonsmoonphases.com), stressing that "we have always admired the Moon throughout the history of mankind".
Fifty years after the last steps of Man on the Moon, during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, NASA is to launch an unmanned mission this year (Artemis 1), before a manned test flight (Artemis 2) in 2024 on the Moon.
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