To the Moon is a VR installation artwork created by artists Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang. To commemorate the 50thanniversary of the moon landing, To the Moon was commissioned by the Louisiana Museum in Denmark for their comprehensive 2018 exhibition The Moon: From Inner Worlds to Outer Space.

 To the Moon uses images and tropes from Greek mythology, literature, science, space sci fi movies and politics to create an imaginary and fabulous new moon. During the 15-minute VR experience, the viewer is shot out from earth, walks on the surface of the moon, glides through space debris, flies through DNA skeletons and is lifted up the side and then tossed off of a lunar mountain.

Constellations

The eternally fixed constellations are visualized as symbols of transitory things and life forms that are becoming extinct - a polar bear, the honey bee, pirate ship. When the viewer looks at the constellations they evaporate.

DNA Museum

The viewer flies through the skeletons of dinosaurs – made of DNA -which morph into a Cadillac in a play on the history of fossil fuels.

Technology Wasteland

The moon is imagined as a dumping ground for plastics and nuclear waste. The viewer glides through this dystopic toxic scene with long scaly tentacles instead of arms.

Stone Rose

Inspired by the rose in the French story, Le Petit Prince, a fossil rose is adrift in the universe as planets swirl around.  The viewer can dive and swoop around these planets.

Snow Mountain

In this section the viewer loses control and is swept to the top of a mountain. Inspired by the plot line of many space adventure movies, the viewer’s virtual body dramatically tumbles away into deep space.

Donkey Ride

The viewer is trotting along on the back of a donkey through the lunar landscape. Eventually the viewer begins to float up and away into a universe of stars that begins to explode like fireworks.

To the Moon is dedicated to the ancient Chinese painter who made a huge vertical landscape painting of a mountain with groves of pine trees, a steep road winding up to the top, waterfalls, tiny hikers with walking sticks, thatched bamboo huts, and fishermen casting their nets in the sea far below.  

The painting was very intricate and it took many years to make. When the painter finally finished the painting he walked into it. This is what we aim to do with To The Moon, allow the viewer to literally walk into a work of art.

Photo from Phi Centre, Credit: Sandra Larochelle