In Event of Moon Disaster is a deepfake art installation that reimagines the Apollo 11 moon landing as a failure. It was directed by Francesca Panetta and Halsey Burgund and produced by the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality. At the heart of the installation is a fictional newscast featuring a deepfaked President Richard Nixon delivering the tragic news to the American people. He reads the actual contingency speech that his speechwriter William Safire had prepared in case of a crash.
Perils and possibilities of synthetic media-as-mass media
In Event of Moon Disaster aims to reveal both the persuasive power of deepfakes and posit ways to combat misinformation and cultivate a discerning public.
Reference Central photo and background theme image by Dominic Smith from In Event of Moon Disaster, Halsey Burgund and MIT.