The art collector who bought all the seats on the Starship rocket has chosen artists to train his crew
Yusaku Maezawa, homme d’affaires et collectionneur d’art japanais, said that many artists, such as BIGBANG TOP member and DJ Steve Aoki, were part of the team of a Space X fusee that would go on the moon pendant one week . In 2018, the billionaire founder of Japan’s largest online clothing store bought all the seats on the Starship rocket that will carry the first civilian mission to the moon next year. In March, Maezawa said he would choose eight crew members. In his announcement video, Maezawa said that more than a million people from all over the world submitted nominations, and it took about a year and a half to review the nominations and pick the winners. Maezawa cast photographers Rhiannon Adam and Karim Iliya, as well as superstar DJ Steve Aoki, rapper BIGBANG TOP, space YouTuber Tim Dodd, choreographer Yemi AD, documentary maker Brendan Hall and actor Dev D. .Joshi.
Artist Rhiannon Adam is on the road
“I think it was during the pandemic and I was looking for an adventure,” the Irish photographer said when asked why she wanted to join Maezawa’s team. “And that felt like a great opportunity.” Adam’s work is a mix of art photography and social documentary. He covers topics such as climate change, social injustice, underprivileged communities and the abuse of power. He often takes photos with Polaroid cameras and instant cameras. Maezawa said in his announcement video, “I love the retro pieces that he does with the Polaroid camera.” “When people go to space, they usually use high-end cameras to get sharp photos, but I can’t wait to see what he thinks of space.”
@dearmoonproject
Adam has already taken photos in a remote location. In the spring, his project on Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific and the 42 Britons who lived there was presented at the Francesca Maffeo gallery. In 2020 he won the Meitar Award for Outstanding Photography. The resulting book, Big Fence/Pitcairn Island, was a finalist for the Photography Book Award at the Kraszna Krausz Foundation Book Awards in 2022. Adam was also a curator and co-founder of Gallery One and a Half, a photography gallery located in Hackney. , London, until 2015. He Lives between London and the United States. If the mission goes ahead, Ms. Adam will be the first Irish person to travel into space. She said it would be “an incredible honor” for him to do so.
Photographer Karim Iliya will participate in the lunar expedition
Iliya is a photographer, filmmaker and guide for swimming with whales in Iceland. His photos and videos of nature and underwater life focus primarily on endangered animals. Iliya took a photo of a humpback whale pup near Tonga’s Vava’u Islands in 2018. This photo earned him a Hassalblad Masters Award in 2018. He said, “In my job, I often go to hard-to-reach places that most people fail to see or experience.”I feel I have a great duty to record this trip as well as possible.”
@yousuckMZ
Yusaku Maezawa has spent huge amounts of money on art
Before leaving for space, the billionaire launched Zozotown, Japan’s largest online clothing store, in May 1998. Maezawa has also spent huge sums of money on art. In 2016, Maezawa spent $98 million on seven works at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. These included Bruce Nauman’s Eat War (1986), Jeff Koons’ Lobster (2007) and Alexander Calder’s Sumac 17 (1955). Maezawa said later that he would share his new trophies with the public by exhibiting them at his he Contemporary Art Foundation in Tokyo. The following year, he spent $110 million at a Sotheby’s auction in May 2017 for a Jean-Michel Basquiat record. This year, Maezawa made headlines again by selling a Basquiat painting he bought for $57.3 million in 2016. At Phillips, it sold for $85 million including tax, or nearly $30 million more. than what Maezawa originally paid. .
