Artist fails in bid to hit moon with laser pointers

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The goal Saturday night was to put a temporary red mark on the dark side of the first-quarter moon -- an artistic vision of Columbia resident James Downey.

While participants, to no surprise, failed to paint the moon red with their hand-held laser pointers, the madcap venture did bring people together, which Downey said was one of his goals.

Armed with pointers of all shapes and sizes, Downey and about 50 friends gathered in front of Legacy Art & BookWorks at 10 p.m. and pointed their beams to the sky.

"As far as I'm concerned the project has been a success," said Downey, Legacy's co-owner.

He said tens of thousands of people around the world shared his dream and that made it it all worthwhile.

"The real point was to bring people together to share an artistic dream," Downey said. "People all around the world are tapping into a similar vein, even those that know it's not going to happen. We do share a real common dream, a real common fascination with the moon."

Downey said he got the idea it while working on a novel in which one of the characters tried to paint a spot on the moon with a laser pointer. He was taken with the idea that a copycat might try it, so decided to do it himself.

"He sometimes comes up with these odd ideas," said Downey's wife, Martha John. "They don't hurt anybody, so we might as well see where they lead. It's just sort of taken on a life of its own."

That life turned into worldwide media attention and more than half a million hits to Downey's Web site, www.paint themoon.org. He's had suggestions that he turn the project into an annual event.

Although the project failed, Downey hopes it provides inspiration, and he doesn't mind if some call call him that idiot who tried to paint the moon.

"Even if that's the case, I hope people say, 'But that was a cool idea,'" he said.