A virtual reality artwork created by Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang is set to show at Art Basel Hong Kong, allowing visitors to virtually explore the surface of the moon through a partnership with HTC Vive.
An avant-garde US artist, composer, musician and director, Laurie Anderson has been collaborating for more than 20 years with Taiwanese new media artist Hsin-Chien Huang on various multimedia projects.
For their latest work, “To the Moon,” described as one of their most ambitious to date, Anderson took inspiration from her experience as the first artist-in-residence at NASA in creating an immersive piece that draws on sources from mythology, literature, science and politics to consider the moon as a site of scientific, metaphysical and creative inquiry.
During the 15-minute artwork, viewers will be able to experience flying over the surface of the moon and discovering unexpected sites along the way. They will experience a journey under low-gravity conditions, simulating the experience of an astronaut traveling through outer space.
Huang is said to have been inspired by “The Little Prince” in developing much of the moon imagery, while a lyric by Anderson, “We don’t know where we come from, we don’t know what we are” from the song “Ramon” off her Grammy-nominated 1989 album “Strange Angels,” is said to be one of the central meditations of the work.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things, movement, physical engagement, language, music and most of all, being able to disappear into something,” said Anderson.
“To the Moon” is the second Art Basel Hong Kong presentation from HTC Vive: in 2018, the team behind the virtual reality headset partnered to present VR works by Marina Abramovi and Anish Kapoor, both of which could be explored both at a booth at the fair and via the VR app store Viveport.
“To the Moon” was presented at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art outside Copenhagen from October to January. It will be on show from March 29-31 at Art Basel Hong Kong. – Relaxnews
