Fallen Astronaut

Now this is an image that has captured my attention since the first time I saw it in a book at my friend's place. I'm not surprised that a doll is the art form designated to represent the fallen astronauts from the various space missions in our history. My friend sent me a link about this controversial little 3" figure, which was left on the moon without NASA's permission. The artist Paul Von Hoeydonck made several hundred replicas to sell, but after negative publicity he decided not to. The top image is an ad from July 1972 issue of Art in America, advertising the sale, which never took place. (Wonder where they all are.)

I'm excited to give a short talk about doll making to the Austin Fiber Artists tomorrow evening, and I want to include a short history of the human need to leave its mark in the representation of a doll, as on the moon. This doll is supposed to represent all the fallen astronauts in the history of space exploration. A faceless genderless doll such as this shows the range of fallen astronauts, but also the human populace which calls earth its home. Just like the clay fertility goddess figures found in excavated sites of the earliest human civilizations, this doll lying on the surface of the moon commemorates a particular group of people for whomever might find it there. Dolls exemplify our humanity. We utilize them to call forth "who we are".