An inflatable 18-metre-tall astronaut towered over the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York last night, designed by production designer Matt Steinbrenner to celebrate the award show's 40th anniversary.
Set inside the UBS Arena, the stage design is a homage to MTV's familiar Moon Person mascot ? an astronaut planting a flag on the moon, which also forms the trophies for the music channel's annual Video Music Awards (VMAs).
A giant astronaut towered over the stage at the MTV VMAs 2024
Unlike the trophy, the stance of the blow-up figure was altered to stretch 17 metres into the room, reaching for a giant inflatable moon.
In this way, Steinbrenner intended to symbolise the astronaut emerging from the screen and reaching into the future to mark the 40th anniversary of the MTV VMAs. The astronaut appeared to be reaching for the moon
"As we were developing the concept for this milestone year, we spent a great deal of time thinking about how we could best honor the history of the Video Music Awards while simultaneously representing the growth and future of our iconic show," said Steinbrenner, who has worked on the show since 2010.
"We decided early on that we wanted to show the Moon Person in a new position and not confine it to the traditional trophy stance with the flag in its left hand," he told Dezeen.
It was designed by art director Matt Steinbrenner
The Moon Person was fabricated by inflatables manufacturer Landmark Creations using 3,840 metres ...