Art installation presenting alternate history
The Immersive Deepfake-Installation by Halsey Burgund and Francesca Panetta, titled In Event of Moon Disaster, is a multimedia art project that uses deepfake technology to recreate a historic moment with an alternate outcome: the Apollo 11 moon landing depicted as a failure, with U.S. President Richard Nixon delivering a never-spoken contingency speech announcing the astronauts’ demise.
The Nixon speech featured in the In Event of Moon Disaster installation originates from a contingency memo written by presidential speechwriter William Safire on July 18, 1969. It was prepared for President Richard Nixon to deliver on national television if the Apollo 11 astronauts became stranded on the moon and could not return to Earth.
Project Overview
The installation premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in November 2019 and has since visited venues like the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, where it was shown from February to August 2024.
Using advanced AI tools – including voice cloning and video dialogue replacement – the team created a realistic deepfake video of Nixon reading the contingency speech, blending both synthetic and archival media.
The installation travels through various places, adapting the 1960s living room, from where the visitors watch the video, according to the country. Another part of the installation is a newspaper that includes the original text of the speech, background information about the project, the technologies used and instructions for recognising a deepfake.
Purpose and Impact
The project investigates the possibilities and dangers of deepfake technology, demonstrating how such synthetic media can convincingly rewrite history and manipulate public perception.
It encourages viewers to be more vigilant about private data they share online, raise awareness and provide tools for recognising misinformation and protecting oneself from the widespread effects of digital manipulation.
Open Discussion with the Artist
On September 05, 2025, the installation was presented at the Cinémathèque in Leipzig, followed by an open discussion with Halsey Burgund via video call. He discussed the dangers of these technologies but also mentioned their positive aspects.
He talked about the beneficial purposes in different sectors, such as education and medicine. For example, he mentioned using vocal deepfakes to give a voice back to someone who lost theirs because of an illness or an accident.
Burgund also said that his project is from 2019, as is all the information about it. Therefore, we must consider that deepfake technology has evolved significantly since then.
If you are not able to visit the installation in person, visit the project’s website https://moondisaster.org/ to watch the full video and get additional background information.
Now we want to know about your opinion.
What are the positive and the negative aspects of deepfakes?
Are we ready for this kind of technology?
Is it ethical to create fake digital copies of people?
