Apolune: Systems Normal

‘The Eagle has landed’ is a quote that has been remembered, repeated, and repurposed since it was first broadcast from the moon, to Mission Control and then across the globe in July 1969.

Apolune: Systems Normal is a sensory installation and live performance that reimagines the Apollo 11 moon landing through the neurodivergent lenses of artists Peyvand Sadeghian and Matthew Robinson. Blending NASA archives with their own personal artefacts, the gallery is transformed into an interactive mission control of analogue tech, 3D projection and uncorrected transcripts.

At its core, Apolune challenges the way archives often erase the textures of human experience, particularly for those whose ways of being and communicating exist outside societal norms. Drawing on James McGrath’s Naming Adult Autism: Culture, Science, and the Self (2017), the work embraces autism as a vantage point that disrupts conventional frameworks, offering a unique perspective on the clinical precision of spaceflight and the chaotic, intimate rhythms of human consciousness. Through performance, the artists reanimate the Apollo 11 archive, filling its silences with their bodies, voices, and gaze. The result is a sensory-rich theatrical environment that oscillates between documentary rigour and poetic abstraction, mirroring the vastness of space and the fragility of human endeavour.

Events:

Full Live Performance: Apolune: Systems Normal

Friday, 6 February from 19:00 - 20:30

The ‘Apolune: Systems Normal’ installation will be brought to life through a unique evening of live, interactive performance. Guided by actors Peyvand Sadeghian and Matthew Robinson, audiences will be led on a journey through the Apollo 11 archives, where they will be invited to observe, explore, and play in Sadeghian and Robinson’s multi-sensory world.

Live Performance Activations & Educational Tours

Daily from 5-8 February at 13:00 and 15:00

Experience Apolune: Systems Normal through intimate 20 minute live activations happening daily at 13:00 and 15:00. Guided by actors Peyvand Sadeghian and Matthew Robinson, audiences are invited to explore fragments of the Apollo 11 archives, brought to life through live performance followed by a Q&A period and guided interactions.

Development partners: 
CRIPtic Arts
Bow Arts Trust
Arts Council England
Oppenheim-Dowes Trust
Artsadmin

Sponsorship Partners:
KOMA Elektronik