Tom Sachs Won’t Wait for NASA to Land on Europa. He’s Sending ‘Astronauts’ Now

Lots of artists make mission statements about their work. Tom Sachs just makes missions. For years the sculptor/filmmaker/painter has been working on a series he calls Space Program that makes art out of exploring new frontier. The third, and latest, endeavor in the series is a large installation opening today at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco that involves sending two “astronauts” to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. “The other NASA is sending probes there to land there in a dozen years, but we can’t wait for those guys,” Sachs says. “We’re going and we’re going now.” Find out more about Sachs’ brave new quest in the video above.