MoonMedicin’s “Planet Rock: Mission II”

A groundbreaking data-driven immersive performance

On November 8, 2025, the American Museum of Natural History became a launchpad for one of the most ambitious Afrofuturistic performances of the decade. Planet Rock: Mission II, produced by the MASK Consortium in collaboration with Sanford Biggers’ MoonMedicin, transformed the museum’s Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation and its state-of-the-art Invisible Worlds Theater into a multidimensional journey—part concert, part exhibit, part ritual, and part cinematic, data-driven starship voyage.

The event—held in the cavern-like Gilder Center designed by Studio Gang Architects, led by Jeanne Gang—served as a canvas for the premiere of a large-scale performance where Sanford Biggers fused avant-jazz, performance art, dance, scientific visualization, and interactive technology. It was an immersive experience in every sense of the word: physical, emotional, spiritual, and cosmic.

Opening: A Time Capsule to Escape a Dying Earth

Before entering the first chamber of the journey, each audience member received a “Time Capsule” as a key to take part in the experience—a custom hard drive sponsored by the Red Hot Organization.

The capsule included exclusive music, videos, images, and historic media from MoonMedicin and Red Hot, along with a QR code unlocking an augmented reality version of one of Sanford Biggers’ most iconic artworks, The Cheshire Smile.

 

 

The audience was encouraged to take pictures with an AR manifestation of “The Cheshire Smile” sculpture throughout the event, playfully blending digital art with the physical environment—an early signal that the evening would erase boundaries between worlds, eras, and technologies.

Act I: “Nuclear War” — Ritual, Rhythm, and Warning

The performance began in the Gilder Center with a powerful reimagining of “Nuclear War,” Sun Ra’s haunting anti-war anthem. This version—originally released on the Red Hot + Ra remix album—featured MoonMedicin and the legendary DJ Rich Medina, now brought to life in a theatrical, spatially dynamic staging.

Paul J. Thompson—playing The 7th Horn of Gabriel—announced the beginning of the ritual with a trumpet call echoing through the cavernous space… as the room reverberated, the Griot emerged.

Sun GuideUs, the Griot was embodied by GRAMMY-winning visionary Meshell Ndegeocello. Through chants, song, and spoken invocation, she set the scene for the planetary—war, collapse, and the necessity of escape. Her presence was electric: ancient, and futuristic, beckoning the audience to ascend into the ship to escape imminent nuclear war.

MoonMedicin’s members appeared throughout the hall—above the audience, beside them, surrounding them—turning the song into a full-room choreography of warning and movement. Meshell led the crowd in a Sun Ra–inspired ritual line dance, urging us forward into the unknown.

Act II: The Seekers Lead the Way

Beckoned by Sun GuideUs, the audience traveled up the stairs deeper into the cavernous space and into the next hallway— a transitional corridor between earthly crisis and cosmic departure.

Here, Martin Luther McCoy, performing as Speak No Evil, delivered a soulful, anchoring performance, weaving a narrative bridge to the next dimension.

This bridge became a liminal space— a mythological corridor. The audience was no longer watching a performance; they were inside it, moving with it, becoming characters within it.

 

Act III: Into the Invisible Worlds Theatre— The Launch

The group was then ushered into AMNH’s Invisible Worlds Theater, where the performance transformed into an interstellar voyage. The Invisible Worlds space is one of the most advanced immersive projection environments on the planet. It is an interactive, 360-degree science and art experience that displays more than 100 million pixels projected onto a 23-foot circular wall from 16 projectors, visualizing scientific data on interconnected life throughout the galaxy—enhanced with room-shaking immersive audio from 62 speakers.

The OpenSpace system leverages advanced projection and interaction technologies to create a dynamic environment that responds to sound and movement. The MASK Consortium team worked with Micah Acinapura to map navigation controls to MIDI so the visualizations could react to music or be manipulated rhythmically in real time.

A New Model for Immersive Performance

Planet Rock: Mission II charts a new path for what musical performance can be in the 21st century—an alchemical blend of storytelling, art, science, mythology, and technology. It is a reminder that Afrofuturism is not just a genre; it is a method of survival, a framework for imagining better worlds, and a cultural technology for navigating crisis. Sanford Biggers and MoonMedicin didn’t just perform—they piloted a collective voyage. For one night in New York City, the audience truly left this planet.

Cast & Creative Team

Sun GuideUs (Griot): Meshell Ndegeocello
The Seekers (Inter-dimensional Travelers): MoonMedicin
Speak No Evil (Psychrophone – Vocals): Martin Luther McCoy
See No Evil (Seeboards – Keys): Sanford Biggers
Hear No Evil (Wheels of Steel – DJ): Jahi Sundance
Navigator (Conductor): Mark E. Hines
Pilot (OpenSpace Visualizations): Micah Acinapura
The 7th Horn of Gabriel (Trumpet): Paul J. Thompson
Venus (Interplanetary Fairy): Ebony “Wildcat” Brown

 

MASK CONSORTIUM extends thanks to:

AMNH
Sean Decatur, Carol Tang, Vivian Trakinski, Andrew Ng, Rebecca Oppenheimer, Loretta Skeddle, Jaeho Choi, Russel Baird, Benjy Bernhardt, Eozin Chae, Eric Cortes, Rocco DiSanti, Kobie Fowler, Danny Zieger, Amelia Greco, Megan Villa

NYC Public Schools Arts Office
Paul J. Thompson, Hannah Berson, Saman Boyd, Kayla Han, Shifat Jahreen, Joy Pace

RED HOT
David Grandison Jr, John Galkin, John Carlin

STUDIO SANFORD BIGGERS
Meghan Masius, Simina Marin