A Vancouver artist believes he has the right stuff to head to the moon.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a childhood dream of mine to go into outer space,鈥� told CTV News Channel on Saturday. 鈥淪ince I became an artist, I had a dream of going to outer space and making a painting鈥� on the surface of the moon. When I woke up from that dream, I thought, 鈥楾hat was ridiculous.鈥� But then the more I thought about it, I thought maybe it鈥檚 actually ridiculous that it hasn鈥檛 happened yet.鈥�
In five years, though, it very likely will.
Standing alongside SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Sept. 17, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced that he would be taking six to eight creative types with him on a private 2023 lunar flyby trip.
"I did not want to have such a fantastic experience by myself," Maezawa said at a press event with Musk. "I wish to create amazing works of art for humankind.鈥�
Even though Maezawa has not said how he will select his guests, Markowsky believes he鈥檚 well-positioned to join the mission.
鈥淚鈥檝e actually been essentially training for this mission for the past 10 years,鈥� he said while sporting a SpaceX t-shirt. 鈥淚鈥檓 not aware of any other artists around the world who鈥檝e been in training for a lunar mission.鈥�
As part of the , Markowsky has and travelling faster than the speed of sound.
Markowsky is now urging people to express their support of what he calls 鈥渢he most ridiculous dream in the world鈥� with the social media hashtags #PaintOnTheMoon and #MarkowskyToTheMoon.
鈥淚 also want to use this as an opportunity to encourage other people to think about their own dreams and express their dreams,鈥� the artist added.
鈥淢usk and Maezawa, you know, they are visionaries. They鈥檝e seen that space travel is a possibility for everybody and to bring artists around to help document that experience so that we can share it with the billions of other people who may not be able to go there, I think is a gift they鈥檙e giving to the world.鈥�
