The Moon Lands on the High Line

It’s an auspicious week for those looking to the heavens. Last Sunday, much of the world was treated to a rare, crimson-hued lunar eclipse, known as the Super Wolf Blood Moon, and starting today and lasting through February 14th, visitors to Manhattan’s High Line will be able to actually “meet” the moon itself—care of Oliver Jeffers’ installation, The Moon, The Earth and Us.

Conceptualized to spark dialogue on the significance—or lack of significance—of man-made borders, replicas of the earth, and moon made of steel, foam, and coated in acrylic, will transform the Chelsea Market Passage of the High Line between 15th and 16th street into a micro-solar system. The Earth, built to scale at eight feet in diameter, and The Moon at two, will both be mounted at a height of 10 feet, roughly a city block apart, with the earth positioned to rotate slowly, almost imperceptibly, on its axis. Inside each man-made border on this faux-earth will read the simple inscription “People Live Here,” while The Moon’s surface will state the obvious: “No One Lives Here.” Through this ambitious lens, Jeffers seeks to underline just how arbitrary man-made constructs like borders and walls truly are when juxtaposed with the magnificent vastness of space.