thedocumentationaboutspaceflight
certainlydifferentthanhedoesit.But
hisfilter,let’ssay,isfromtheeyesofa
17 yearoldwitha greatpassion.”
MartinworriesthatMOMmight
appeartoothersassome“crazyidea
fromsomebizarreartist”. Hetakescrit-
icismseriously,tweakingtheproject,
tryingtobalancethethreestreamsof
information.“Goodartistsandgood
scientistshavetohavea similarfeel
oftheirfield,”hesaid.“Theyhaveto
walka pathoutsidethenormalpath.
Theyhavetoseenewconnectionsand
developnewtheories...I thinkthe
MOMprojectisa crossoverbetween
artandscience.”
TOMAKEITWORK,though,requires
a hard-nosedpracticalsideaswell.
Martinsaidhe’dmade“verystrong
contacts”withSaltzwelten.“Evenif
theysellthecompany,thenextowner
isalsoboundtokeepMOMinside
forever,”hesaid.
Tohelpfuture beingsfindthe
archive,Martinhascreatedfiredclay
tokensthatarea kindoftreasuremap.
InscribedwithanoutlineofEurope,it
hastwolinescrisscrossingatthesalt
mineatHallstatt.Ontheflipsideisan
etchingoftheperimeterofa nearby
lake,aswellasa cubethatsignifies
botha saltcrystalandthesaltmine
onitsshores.“Iimaginefuturefinders
willhavethetechnologytoreplicate
theshapeofthelakebed,”Martinsaid.
Hegivesthetokenstotourists,
MOMcontributors,anyinterested
party,really,andhasanagreement
withtheArchMissionFoundationto
havethemsprinkledthroughoutthe
solarsystem.Thetokenwouldlead
beingstoMartin’strove.Thenthey
wouldseehowmuchwelovedceleb-
ritiesandrealityshowsonTV.They’d
beabletotrackallofourneurosesand
conspiracytheories(cropcircles!the
Illuminati!)andrevisionisthistories,in
searchofourtruth.
They’dalsoseehowwetriedand
failed,andhowweloved,andhow
wegrieved.OneofMartin’sfavourite
tablets,fromfouryearsago,wasgiven
toanAustriangirlnamedFannyfor
herconfirmation,andshewasallowed
todesignit.“Ithadthatkidenergy,”
saidMartin.Itincludedphotographs
ofherfamilyandthemusicgroupin
whichsheplayed.WhenFannydied
ina caraccident,herauntcameback
toMartin,wantinga secondtablettoOne of the clay map tokens that will
help future beings find the archivePHOTO: ANTONY LYONS66 august 2019
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