To The Moon: Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang

Fifty years after man first landed on the Moon, American art pioneer and icon Laurie Anderson is flying us all there with the captivating virtual reality work To The Moon. Developed with fellow artist Hsin-Chien Huang, this 20-minute immersive experience takes you on a cutting-edge voyage of sight, sound and imagination to our nearest cosmic neighbour.

The sensation of flight mingles with the delight of navigating a fantastic alternative lunar landscape as imagined by Laurie, who was the first artist-in-residence at NASA. To The Moon incorporates images and analogies from Greek mythology, literature, science, science fiction movies and politics to create an imaginary and dark new moon. It includes scenes with life forms that are becoming extinct such as a polar bear and the honey bee; dinosaurs made of DNA symbols that play on the history of fossil fuels; and the Moon is imagined as a dystopic dumping ground for plastics and nuclear waste.To The Moon takes us closer to the lunar surface than many have ever gone before – and the journey is just as important as the destination. “The moon has a very inspiring, dreamlike existence,” says Laurie. “Secretly, all I want to do is to let people fly.”

To The Moon VR experience was commissioned by The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark; The National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan; and National Taiwan Normal University. To The Moon A/V experience was originally commissioned by The Manchester International Festival.

Presented in partnership with the New Zealand Festival of the Arts