LUNA LUNA The Shed New York

As the chair swing ride spins faster and faster with the unknown theatrical and whimsical carnival-themed music in the background and the halo-shaped light installations hang in the center of the space as well as light on the side walls that emits heat rhythmically functioning as digital fireworks, Kenny Scharf’s graffiti-like paintings on the central cylinder of the swing ride and monstrous multi-eye cartoon figures standing on top of the swing rotate, flashing before the viewers’ eyes at a moderate speed, allowing the viewers to see enough of it but not fully grasp the essence, luring them to keep watching. Next to the swing ride was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s small muted cream-white Ferris wheel, featuring 7 passenger cabins revolving with lights lining the rims. Basquiat’s signature paintings and words covered the rims and circular frame of the Ferris wheel. LUNA LUNA staff, dressed in quirky monster-like costumes, used rods with stuffed butterflies to playfully surprise visitors by brushing their heads or 'kissing' their faces. This ecstatic festive scene at the Shed revealed only a small part of the fantasyland recreated from the 1987 LUNA LUNA amusement park project, originally conceptualized by curator and artist Andre Heller, who invited over 30 artists, including David Hockney, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring, to design the games, rides, and attractions.

What made LUNA LUNA great was never about being the fantasy or dream of everyone’s childhood or reigniting the imagination or the conflux of avant-garde and street art with amusement rides. It was the fact that art stepped down from the pedestal of being admired and worshiped in a constrained space and instead rushed into and embraced its most rudimentary yet powerful forms as accessible and entertaining objects that anyone could associate with. In that sense, the way individuals interact with art was transformed. As we human beings are the product of our environment, the natural, socio-economic, and cultural surroundings one is cultivated and immersed in, even for a few seconds or a minute, leave a trace in our memory, constituting a part of us that is so distinct and irreplaceable. The fact that LUNA LUNA elevated the amusement park, a space designed to create joy for people of all ages, by adding aesthetically pleasing, valuable, and culturally enriched artistic elements into the design of the rides and games fostered an environment that not only brought joy but also healed, nurtured, and communicated with viewers in poetic ways.

Concededly, LUNA LUNA at The Shed in New York successfully recreated the fantastical scenes of the original amusement park, but it strayed far from its original purpose, coming across more like a commercial art project, as viewers were not allowed to take any rides but only observe from a distance. As I watched the swing ride slow down, the music gradually fading into silence, my eyes glistened with the faint shimmer of heartfelt emotion. A girl came up to me and said, "You know what is the thing that makes me feel most sad? There is still dust on the seats.”