The full title of this seminal work of space art is Base of the World, Magic Base No. 3 by Piero Manzoni 1961 Homage to Galileo. By subtitling his work an homage to Galileo, Manzoni was slyly making the absurd proclamation that the entire earth is a sculpture.

Socle du monde (Base of the World), 1961
iron, bronze, 82x100x100cm
Herning Kunstmuseum, Denmark.

In 1960, Piero Manzoni signed people to create «Living Sculptures and built Magic Bases, pedestals bearing footprints to accommodate people who, for as long they stood there, became artistic works.

The full achievement of this artistic aspiration is the Socle du monde (Base of the World,) an upside down Magic Base holding on its bearing surface the entire world. Everything is recognised as a work of art.

«Once upon a time Danish industrialist Aage Damgaard, the owner of a textile factory in Herning, invited Italian artist Piero Manzoni to take up a residency there. Manzoni arrived in 1961, probably saw the curvature of the Earth on the broad horizon of the northern lowlands and decided to place a cube on the…» ~ Jan Verwoert, frieze.com.

Piero Manzoni wrote in Milan 1962: «At the present moment I am studying an electronically controlled labyrinth which will be of use for psychological tests and brainwashing.» He died in 1963.

sources: pieromanzoni.org, socledumonde.dk, herningkunstmuseum.dk, waldorfseminar.de, mindweb, frieze.com