FROM SPACESIGN TO MOONSIGN
... in boyhood and youth, he sought the salvation of escape in the futuristic world of flights to the stars ... to intergalactic spaces and worlds ... he always wanted to fly to another star someday ... often, he waited for hours in the colorful ... juicy ... meadows of Allgäu for the (promised) pickup and embarkation on an endless journey to the stars ... mankind for him was never a one-time-only random accident on this planet alone ... he believed that he would meet other life forms everywhere among the stars ... (Excerpt from Werkstattbuch 1 - ”and he talks about himself”)
What creative energy could be triggered by the godlike gaze towards our home planet from a space station or even from our Earth’s moon! Why aren’t painters, musicians and poets sent into space so that they can report on their feelings there? Or is it just my primal yearning to fly to the stars? (From diary entries, 1995)
It all began in my youth, with the longing to flying to the stars. After the completion of the Earthsign ”AN ISLAND IN TIME”, I began to think about sculptures for weightless space in 1995.
Collapsible, inflatable sculptures that could orbit the Earth or even be sent into the depths of the universe. Someday in the mists of time they’d be seen by life forms from another solar system and might be recognized as messages,
as signs of a life that flourished elsewhere in this endless universe, marked with the patina of a journey through time, scarred with the traces of cosmic winds. Obsolete detritus of
technical hubris litters the small region of outer space that is closest to the Earth. Superfluous satellites, erroneously programmed solar sails, abandoned space stations and rocket boosters left on their own. With a magnet in
weightless space, to collect them into huge rings of sculpture. Weightless, once-worthless technological trash redesigned into poetic signs. Visible for extraterrestrial flyers, visible for those who fly to the moon, visible,
perhaps, for visitors from other worlds. Raptly gazing at the moon, the wish grew: to leave an earthly sign on that planet too. Though it might seem impossible to achieve within the brief span
of time that has been apportioned to me on Earth, the plan nonetheless fanned the flames of my astronomical yearning. Sometimes a scarcely audible whisper from space. An advance intervention into future times, a human, poetic mark
between endless hours and brief eternities. Primal wish or pipe-dream? Few people have thus far set foot on the moon, have driven lunar automobiles as they carried out scientific research, and left long-lasting tire tracks on the
dusty lunar surface. But before science takes sole possession of the moon, a conciliatory, poetic sign ought to be placed there: a sign to symbolize the non-functional, the unconscious and the unknown, to bridge divisive worlds and
allude to humankind’s unsatisfied, insatiable urge to overcome earthly limitations through the unconquerable power of hope. AN EARTHLY SIGN FOR THE MOON, THE MOONSIGN: THE MAGNETIC WEIGHT The Moonsign is a double X and a
horizontal figure-of eight, which stands for eternity. The X or cross is a familiar symbol found in many cultures, where it marks the site of communication between heaven and Earth. Two Xs here signify the encounter between
terrestrial life-forms and extraterrestrial visitors with all their mysteries. As the integer of renewal and regeneration, the number eight also symbolizes cosmic order and equilibrium. TECHNICAL REALIZATION To
actually place the earthly sign on the moon will require a flat plain on the lunar surface, ideally on the half of the moon which is visible from the Earth. The selected side is located at Rainbow Bay (Sinus Iridum) northwest of
Mare Imbrium. Equipped with rakes or broom-like tools and powered by solar energy, lunar vehicles could incribe this earthly sign onto the moon’s surface. Just as the tire tracks left by lunar rovers during the 1970s are still
visible on the moon’s surface, so too the combined effect of many adjacent lines would create broad, visible bands. To be visible from the Earth, the Moonsign would have to be at least 65 x 125 kilometers in size.