Moonphase and Liberation, 2026

Astronomy is often considered the earliest natural science and one of humanity’s first computational systems. Long before modern technology, celestial bodies allowed humans to measure time, track seasons, and position themselves within the world. The moon served simultaneously as calendar, navigation tool, and cosmological model.

In the Moon series, Tan Mu works with high-resolution lunar imagery generated by NASA and other space agencies. These are not conventional photographs but “technical images” produced through spectral data, remote sensing, and machine vision. The lunar surface becomes visible through data rather than the naked eye. Machine vision does not replace human perception; instead, it expands the field of visibility and redefines how the world can be seen.

The work draws a continuum between ancient sky observation and contemporary astro-imaging. The moon appears as a stratified archive of geology, impacts, orbits, and time. It is both a scientific object and a vessel for mythologies and cultural memory. Rather than depicting the moon, the paintings translate it as a cognitive medium in which data becomes image and image becomes knowledge.

Material is central to the project. The works are painted on copper, a key substrate for circuit boards and computation. Copper supports the technological infrastructures that produce and display lunar data, forming a chain from observation to imaging to perception.

Within Tan Mu’s broader practice, Moon extends themes from Signal and Glacier, shifting from technological infrastructure and geological time toward cosmic scales. Painting becomes a tool for expanded observation, bringing distant celestial bodies to intimate scale.