Fly me to the moon

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of Nasa’s Apollo 11 lunar mission, the American Museum of Natural History is hosting a VR art piece by Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang that takes viewers on a fantastical flight up to the moon. The 15-min fully immersive work allows you to absorb some truly astounding lunar views—floating above a crater populated by the ghosts of dinosaurs and navigating through fields of falling space debris, or climbing a massive celestial mountain and sitting on the back of a surprisingly placid space donkey that canters across the tranquil landscape—all while Anderson whispers poetic messages into your ears. First shown at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, the work is on view in New York only until Sunday 28 July and same-day reservations can be made at the museum on a first come basis. The family-friendly science museum is an ideal context, Anderson says, since one of her aims was to create a VR work that appeals to young children but does not adhere to the usual video game tropes of either shooting enemies or scrounging for material objects. “I want to teach them to fly, that’s my real motive in this,” the artist says.