In the electric bustle of big-city life, it is easy to forget to look up at the Moon. Transforming an exhibition space into a lunar embassy on London's Southbank over the course of a single lunar orbit, Republic of the Moon inspires us to confront our relationship with the Earth's lone satellite. Presented by The Arts Catalyst, a London-based organization that commissions art that engages with science, the travelling exhibition brings together a diverse collection of projects that weave lunar science and myth, and prod us to think, imagine and smile.
The exhibition leads the visitor through a series of rooms, each featuring the work of an international artist. Liliane Lijn's 'moonmeme' explores her ambition to project a word on the lunar surface that could be viewed from Earth. In a dark room, the word 'SHE' is projected in large block letters on to an image of the Moon, which changes according to the actual Moon's phase. Playing with the feminine symbolism in many cultures that is linked to the cyclic transformation of the Moon as seen from Earth, the letters disappear and reappear slowly over the lunar cycle. On each day of the exhibition, the Moon and the projected letters appear differently. A soundscape of shifting and morphing chants in the artist's voice of the word 'she' emphasizes the transformation that is occurring.
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