Anish Kapoor has announced plans to launch a large-scale sculpture into space, a project he estimates will cost nine figures. While details of the artwork remain secret, Kapoor suggested it might involve mirrors and aims to be a "useless" yet "magical" poetic occupation of the cosmos. He confirmed his backers are "not necessarily American" and explicitly stated Elon Musk is not involved.
Kapoor's project enters a growing trend of artists sending work to space, a practice critics link to the private space sector's role as a "plaything for the ultra-rich" and tied to concepts of "astrocolonialism." The announcement coincides with news of a Kapoor exhibition at Palazzo Manfrin during the Venice Biennale and a show at Lisson Gallery in New York, highlighting the artist's continued high-profile activity and engagement with both artistic and political dimensions of space exploration.