Lunatick by Antony Gormley, 180 The Strand

Artist Antony Gormley is known for his exploration of the human body and the spaces it occupies. After a lacklustre show at Cambridge’s newly-opened Kettle’s Yard last year, it seems the artist has decided to be more daring in his next endeavour by venturing into outer space.

Not ‘space’, as in the air that surrounds you, but space: the infinite cosmos beyond our earthly atmosphere. Gormley has created an immersive 15-minute virtual reality experience. Lunatick at 180 The Strand transports visitors into the starry firmament above and through a constellation of asteroids where they eventually make a moon-landing. It is another project that seems to have its roots in Gormley’s alma-mater, Cambridge, where he studied anthropology and history of art, and where the artist conceptualised the installation with astrophysicist Priya Natarajan.

VR has piqued the interest of many artists as a new territory for exploration, but only a few have succeeded in shaking off its gimmicky appeal. This new project will appeal to science fiction fans, a response not usually associated with Gormley, whose static sculptures elicit a more cerebral, intellectual consideration.

A maker of monuments (Angel Of The North, 1998) and of bolted-down perforated figures (Sublimate XIII, 2007), Gormley has never shied away from experimenting with different materials such as steel, cast iron and lead in the multiple iterations of his anthropoid forms, many of which will inhabit the massive exhibition of the artist's work at the Royal Academy this September. Virtual reality will be a new one for Gormley, but as a master of the 3D, it feels like a fitting challenge.

Tickets are £5 and can be booked here. We predict a sellout, so make sure you book ahead.