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The Arts Intel Report

Tom Sachs: Space Program, Rare Earths

Sept 19, 2021 – Apr 10, 2022
Glockengießerwall 20095 Hamburg, Germany

Tom Sachs wants to ensure you’re ready to experience his new show. The fourth installment of his interactive “Space Program” series, which began at Gagosian in 2007, starts with an “indoctrination process.” At one of Europe’s largest art centers, attendees prove their fitness to travel to 4-Vesta, the closest asteroid to Earth, by completing a series of tasks and enduring rounds of questions. Those qualified for interstellar travel watch highlights of previous space expeditions, including Landing Excursion Module and Mission Control, and Sachs’s demonstration of a flight plan. This isn’t a vacation but a mission. Equipped with tools made of plywood, foam core, and hot glue, attendees are tasked with harvesting 4-Vesta’s rare minerals in order to sustain humanity’s addiction to technology. Be sure to buy tickets in advance if you don’t want to be left stranded on Earth. —J.D.

Installation view of “Space Program, Rare Earths”. Photo courtesy of Deichtorhallen Hamburg.