Lithograph of tantalum nitride film on ceramic wafer

Not on view

The Moon Museum is thought to be the first artwork to have traveled to the moon. American sculptor Forrest Myers worked with scientists from Bell Laboratories to produce an edition of tiny ceramic tiles onto which drawings by him and five other artists were inscribed. He reported that he had one of the tiles covertly attached to the Apollo 12 spacecraft and that it was left on the moon along with other personal effects transported by the astronauts.
Myers contributed the drawing at the lower left. Warhol drew his initials, which also read as a penis or a space rocket. In the top center is a line by Rauschenberg; to its right is a black square by Novros and a diagram by Chamberlain, both modeled on circuitry diagrams; and in the lower center is a sketch of Mickey Mouse by Oldenburg.

Gallery label from

From the Collection: 1960-69, March 26, 2016 - March 12, 2017.

Collaborating artist Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, David Novros, Forrest Myers, Robert Rauschenberg, John Chamberlain
Medium Lithograph of tantalum nitride film on ceramic wafer
Dimensions sheet: 9/16 × 3/4" (1.4 × 1.9 cm)
Publisher Forrest Myers
Fabricator AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ
Edition approx. 40
Credit Gift of Ruth Waldhauer
Object number 124.1993
Department Drawings and Prints

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