Spencer Finch
Moon Dust (Apollo 17)

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Artist Spencer FinchAmerican, born 1962

CultureAmerican

Titles

Moon Dust (Apollo 17)

Date2009

Made inUnited States

Medium150 light fixtures and 417 incandescent bulbs

Dimensions396 × 342 in. (1005.8 × 868.7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by contemporary@mfah 2013, the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, Chris Urbanczyk, with matching funds provided by Chevron, Brad and Leslie Bucher, and Mr. and Mrs. William Shiffick, by exchange

Object number2014.64

Current Location

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Cafe

On view

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Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Object Type

DescriptionSpencer Finch’s Moon Dust (Apollo 17) sweeps across the ceiling, an array of lights that offers a poetic meditation on science, nature, and lunar travel. The lights are arranged in fixed configurations that map the molecular structure of actual moon dust gathered in 1972 by Apollo 17, the sixth and final mission in the US lunar landing program. Each light bulb represents one element bonded in the molecules, ranging from helium (smallest) to oxygen (largest). The installation has special resonance for Houston, home of NASA’s Manned Space Program, where the command module of Apollo 17 is preserved today.
ProvenanceThe artist; [James Cohan Gallery, New York, March 2013]; purchased by MFAH, 2014.
Exhibition History"Fare Mondi/Making Worlds," Venice Biennial, June 7–November 22, 2009.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

N.A.

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