Artist Jeff Koons makes history with a sculpture on the moon

With the lunar touchdown of the Odysseus spacecraft on Thursday, the world’s most expensive living artist has now earned a new, space-age superlative: His creation is now the first “authorized” work of art on the moon.

Exchanging the gallery space for a transparent box in space, the American artist Jeff Koons had a new sculpture series hitch a ride with Odysseus (also known as “Odie,” or IM-1), which began its journey on February 15.

Attached to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and overseen by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines, Odie’s historic arrivalmarks the US’s first landing on the lunar surface in more than 50 years. It follows a failed attempt by the Peregrine spacecraft last month, which burned up in the atmosphere after a propellant leak prevented it from completing its mission.

Posting to Instagram shortly after Odysseus touched down, Koons described the moon landing as “astounding achievement” and said he was “so honored” to be involved in the mission. In an earlier post, he had described the launch as “a spectacular event,” adding that “in person, the scale, the forces, the experience of space being penetrated was unbelievable!”

So what is Koons exhibiting on the lonely lunar surface? Contained in the aforementioned box are 125 mini-sculptures of the moon, measuring about one inch in diameter. Called “Moon Phases,” they show 62 phases of the moon as seen from Earth, 62 phases visible from other viewpoints in space, and one lunar eclipse.