IN PURSUIT OF THE BLOOD MOON (2022)

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
“It is futile,” I said,
“You can never—”

“You lie,” he cried,
And ran on.

—STEPHEN CRANE

On the night of May 16, 2022 was a total lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon. In outer San Francisco, the skies were overcast. I took my car to the streets in performative pursuit, searching for clear patches in the clouds for a glimpse of the moon. By following the sky high above, shifting cloud formations became my navigational technology—while on the surface of the earth, my body’s movement was constrained to an urban layout of streets and terrain.

The intent of this pursuit was to drive, and drive, and “catch” the Blood Moon—an ephemeral endpoint akin to a dream, perhaps a utopia. Its near guaranteed failure serves as a poetic metaphor for the naïve desire to chase the impossible.

Save for a personal oration, this pursuit has no documentation. In some ways, its only trace is as mythic tale.