Lisa Gherardini Visits the Moon

Left, Initial transfer. Right, Image with laser-communicated corrections.

On January 18, it was widely reported that NASA’s scientists had successfully beamed a picture of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a powerful spacecraft which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. NASA claimed that it was testing the technology of laser communications in deep space, and that its effective transfer of the image was a major advance for interplanetary spacecraft.

Thinking of the lone Mona Lisa, out there circling the moon, I imagine her reception in that alien region. Perhaps ET art historians are already on the case-- worrying over the image, analyzing the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic expression, debating the model’s true identity. Are they trying to decide whether it is in fact a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, rather than Isabella of Naples, or Caterina Sforza, or Cecilia Gallerani, or Isabella d’Este? Or are they wondering whether the image that dazzles and puzzles them is perhaps a self-portrait of the great Leonardo himself?

I’m curious about how these art-deprived ETs would react if, as a follow-up, instead of another single painting, we decided to send a truly comprehensive representation of our globe’s art works. If, for example, we were to send them, via digital images, the entire contents of the Louvre, or another major art museum. Would they be overwhelmed with admiration, stunned by our skill and aesthetic taste, and, longing to see the real thing, would they be inspired to immediately jump on the next space vehicle and become our first extra-mundane tourists?

But what if we were to send out art works that displayed the more dismal aspects of life on our planet. For many years, political artists here on earth have used projections as a type of powerful urban guerilla tactic. I’m thinking, for instance, of  Krzysztof Wodiczko, who since the 1980s has used ephemeral images, projected onto public buildings and monuments, as a means of highlighting social and political problems. Such projections could probably travel far into space via the new laser technology.

Krzysztof Wodiczko: Public Projection on Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., 1988

And perhaps it would even be useful to send S.O.S. messages about our political stalemates and social distresses to other worlds. How marvelous if someone out there, on the shoulder of Orion or in some black galaxy gazillions of miles away, looking down on our poor, tormented earth and perceiving our woes-- our perpetual wars, our unending international conflicts, our mindless culture of violence, our starving millions, our looming climate crises, our terrible inequalities of wealth, privilege and opportunity-- perhaps some stranger out there will know how to solve our seemingly insoluble problems, know better than we, caught up in our troubles, seem able to know for ourselves.