At The Shed, a Forgotten Fantasy is Remembered

A fantastical artscape set up shop in Hamburg in the summer of 1987—the artscape was Luna Luna, and the shop was an amusement park. Born from Viennese artist Andre Heller’s vision for art to be a joyous shared experience for all ages, Luna Luna was created as “the world’s first art amusement park.” The park featured rides designed by leading artists of the time, including Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, and Sonia Delaunay.

Although Luna Luna was intended to become a touring playground-exhibit, the rides ended up dismantled and dusty in 44 storage boxes in Texas due to legal troubles. However, Luna Luna was revived via funding by rapper Drake and his entertainment company DreamCrew in 2022. In 2024, Luna Luna began its global tour. 

Some attractions, such as Lichtenstein’s prismatic labyrinth of mirrors and David Hockney’s “enchanted tree,” are open for guests to walk through and experience firsthand. However, the vast majority of the exhibition, including the swing ride and the carousels, are for spectating only. This becomes an especially poignant criticism of the exhibit, given that tickets cost 35 dollars for those under 16 and 70 dollars for those older. It is a hefty price tag for a nonfunctioning amusement park. 

Though it is disappointing that the rides are unrideable, the decision is well justified. Not only do the structures not adhere to modern safety standards, but each piece was meticulously reassembled and restored; the risk of damaging such a rich artistic endeavor far outweighs the benefit of experiencing the rides as they were intended. 

Although they are barred from the public for good reason, the rides being inoperable is still the greatest pitfall of Luna Luna—for all its expert curation, engaging infographics, and immersive environment, it does not and cannot recreate the ecstasy of its original run in Hamburg. Luna Luna was designed to be an art amusement park, not just a piece of art. When you take away the amusement park aspect by removing guests’ ability to ride on the structures, part of the magic is inherently stripped away.

However, this is likely an unfixable problem. Now, the exhibit, which features around half of the original 30 attractions and dozens of ephemera from its Hamburg debut, is on display at The Shed in Hudson Yards. Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy simulates the atmosphere of an amusement park at night; rides such as the Keith Haring carousel, with his signature dancing figures in place of traditional carnival ponies, and a stout carousel featuring scribble-drawings by Basquiat (most prominently a baboon’s rear end) are bathed in a dim navy light while multicolored lights imitate the glow of a cityscape after dark.  

In terms of its art, Luna Luna is fascinating. The exhibit oozes vibrancy, and its designs, while without particularly profound meaning, elicit Heller’s hope for a response of gleeful abandon. Bright colored plastic is molded into alien shapes, while a futuristic and abstracted gloom reminiscent of the set design in City of Lost Children (1999) permeates the kaleidoscopic halls and walkways. Performers wave giant butterflies around and make burbling chirps, further enhancing the feeling of detachment from reality. Walking through the relics of Luna Luna is akin to touring a martian playground. 

One of the most visually stunning works in the exhibit is a swing ride designed by Kenny Scharf. The panels of the ride are painted in a graffiti style, with swirls of warm purple and dark green and black spirals decorating the technicolor dreamscape. Three bizarre, NERDS-candy-shaped creatures smile down from the roof. 

In another area, a carousel that can best be described as Eric Carle (author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar) on LSD slowly rotates, showcasing the peculiar range of sculptures which act as seats, including but not limited to a giant melting hand, an outlandish serpentine butterfly, and an original interpretation of a lilypad pond. 

In an effort to infuse the exhibit with the vibrancy and liveliness of its 1987 run, the rides light up every hour. Ambient music swells and crescendos while flags flap in the wintry city air, enclosed in a monument to artistic preservation. For a minute, Luna Luna is illuminated, and The Shed becomes a microcosm of childlike wonder.