Thomas Heidtmann Studio

Ida & Dactyl – Moon Gallery

2018 | Conceptual

With Ida & Dactyl, the Moon Gallery becomes a container for a universe of reflections.

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The inner walls of the gallery cube are covered with mirrored foil. In its centre sits a mirrored sphere, surrounded by a smaller one on a revolving orbit. Countless reflections of the spheres, the observer, and the environment become visible.

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Thomas Heidtmann : Ida & Dactyl, 2019. Prototype II, 15cm x 15cm x 15cm. Photo: Moon Gallery

Reflection is one of the most important and fundamentally characteristic features of human activities. From the Ptolemaic system through the Copernican Revolution and beyond, mankind has changed its perception of the universe many times over.

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Thomas Heidtmann: Ida & Dactyl, 2018. Conceptual rendering.
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Thomas Heidtmann: Ida & Dactyl, 2018. Prototype I, 1cm x 1cm x 1cm.
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Thomas Heidtmann: Ida & Dactyl, 2019. Prototype II, 15cm x 15cm x 15cm.

Ida & Dactyl is a symbolic statement for the uniquely human behaviour of evaluating experiences: evoking questions about our intentions, relations, and the consequences of our actions on a global scale and beyond. It is an attempt to transform the experience of the “overview effect”, as described by Astronauts, to a tiny scale to be reflected upon by future generations on the surface of the Moon.

Moon Gallery is an international collaborative artwork and a gallery of ideas worth sending to the Moon. Moon Gallery intends to launch 100 artifacts to the Moon within the compact format of a 10cm x 10cm x 1cm plate on a lunar lander exterior panelling as early as 2022.

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Moon Gallery, 2019. Gallery with lander, IGLUNA, Zermatt, Switzerland. Photo: Moon Gallery
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Moon Gallery, 2019. Moon simulation mission, EMMIHS3, Hawaii, USA. Photo: Moon Gallery
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Moon Gallery, 2019. Moon simulation mission, EMMIHS3, Hawaii, USA. Photo: Moon Gallery
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Moon Gallery, 2018. Installation view, Space Expo / ESA / ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Photo: Moon Gallery
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Moon Gallery, 2018. Space Expo / ESA / ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Photo: Moon Gallery
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Moon Gallery, 2019. Installation view, Hoogtij #57, Quartair, Den Haag, The Netherlands. Photo: Moon Gallery
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Moon Gallery, 2019. Installation view, Milan Design Week, Milan, Italy. Photo: Moon Gallery

Exhibitions

  • 2020 // Close Cosmos // Ars Electronica / Leiden Observatory (Group exhibition) // Leiden, The Netherlands
  • 2020 // Moon Gallery Garden // Zone2Source / Het Glazen Huis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 2019 // Designblok 19 // Designblok Prague International Design Festival // Prague, Czech Republic
  • 2019 // IGLUNA // Zermatt, Switzerland
  • 2019 // Hoogtij #57 // Quartair // The Hague, The Netherlands
  • 2019 // Milan Design Week // Ventura Projects / BASE Milano // Milan, Italy
  • 2018 // The Moon Gallery // Space Expo // Noordwijk, The Netherlands
  • 2018 // The Moon Gallery // ESA / ESTEC // Noordwijk, The Netherlands