MOONS & CLOUDS

When Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in July 1969, I was about to turn ten years old. We watched the landing on a TV set in the auditorium of my elementary school. We were all blown away. But, we grew up around the movie industry in Los Angeles, so some of us were a bit skeptical. Our teachers and parents reassured us that it was real. This gave me the idea that there are infinite possibilities, starting with the imagination, then figuring out how to make it my version of real.

Later, in 1979, while combing through the film archive at CalArts I came across the 1902 short film A Trip To The Moon (Le Voyage Dans La Lune) directed by Georges Méliès, and written by Jules Vern, H.G. Wells and Georges Méliès. I loved this film. I had a thing for silent films anyway but this kind of live action and animation was thrilling.

So, I play with the moon, and clouds. The streaks of light flashing across the first photomontage of the moon, resting on a cloud, are from a disco ball hanging in my kitchen. Anything is possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcyZ70tO9-Q