Fly Me
To The Moon
Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam
commisoned by Rijksgebouwendienst
2006
Fly Me To The MoonThe core item of this project is the oldest object in the collection of the Rijksmuseum: a moon rock. The crew of the first manned lunar landing mission Apollo 11 brought this piece of rock to earth in 1969. That same year the three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins went on a world tour. They also visited the Netherlands and Willem Drees, a former Dutch prime minister, received the rock on that occasion as a present from the US ambassador at that time. Later, this piece was donated to the Rijksmuseum. The presence of this extraordinary object in this public collection not only calls out for questions that highlight issues around the location, site and history of the museum, but also opens up to the opportunity to question what establishes a public collection, the origin and authenticity of objects in a public collection, and issues of ownership and colonialism. The project addresses these issues from various perspectives, concerning the public and private significance of a collection, national identity, the role and economic factor of a museum for a city and country, and questions around public interest, ownership and the future of museum collections .
Commissioned by the Rijksgebouwendienst, in context of the building under construction for renovation, 'making public' is a parameter in this project.
Different levels of narrative mediation are unfolding: the exhibition of the moon stone in the highest tower of the Rijksmuseum; weekly public tours to the top floor of the empty and fully stripped tower of the museum by a guide following a 'dynamic script'; public talks with scientists and experts; the purchase of a deed of 1 acre on the moon on the name of the museum, to anticipate a possible future move; posters in public light boxes on busstops and along the streets designed by Ben Laloua/Didier Pascal; publication Fly Me To The Moon, designed by Ben Laloua/Didier Pascal with texts by Jennifer Allen, Bik Van der Pol, Wouter Davidts, Frans Von der Dunk and Jane Rendell, published by Sternberg Press; a communication strategy supported by ING developed in collaboration with a professional communication bureau.
The artists donated the deeds and printed matter to the collection of the Rijksmuseum, adding new layers to the collection.
Addendum: geologists of the Free University (VU) in Amsterdam approached the artists with the request to study the rock. At the time the museum rejected this request, but some years later new director Wim Pijbes granted this request. Quickly the geologists discovered that the moonrock in the collection of the museum is not from the moon. This news went viral: moonrock search, maansteen, and The Addition.
Moonrock (collection Rjksmuseum, Amsterdam)
