dearMoon project will take eight artists to the Moon

The Future. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the founder of fashion retailer Zozotown, has handpicked his crew of artists and creatives who will join him in his privately-funded mission around the Moon — the first of its kind. With various artists from a variety of disciplines, Maezawa’s flight crew could produce the first capsule of artistic works directly inspired by having their heads in the stars.

Imagination orbit
Yusaku Maezawa’s dearMoon project has found its creative crew, according to The Verge.

• The crew consists of DJ Steve Aoki, musician Choi Seung-hyun, choreographer and performer Yemi A.D., photographer Rhiannon Adam, YouTuber Tim Dodd, photographer Karim Iliya, filmmaker Brendan Hall, and actor Dev Joshi.
  • Snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and dancer Miyu as backups.

• The mission is slated to fly in SpaceX’s Starship rocket sometime in 2023… but with the Starship not yet having an orbital test flight, expect that to get pushed.

This isn’t Maezawa’s first rodeo among the stars. He flew aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket with two cosmonauts to the ISS last year.

The Moon as the muse
When Maezawa announced the mission in 2018, he said that each artist would be asked to make a work reflecting their experience in outer space.

Last week, he said, “I hope each and every one will recognize the responsibility that comes with leaving the Earth, traveling to the Moon and back. They will gain a lot from this experience, and I hope they will use that to contribute to the planet, to humanity.”

What a beautiful opportunity.