Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 81st St.
June 3-5, $40, 8:00
212-769-5200
www.amnh.org
www.joshualightshow.com
“It’s random and improvised but not out of control,” Joshua White said following the June 2 rehearsal of his latest Joshua Light Show project, “Fulldome,” being presented this weekend at the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. “We know what’s going to happen.” White, a native New Yorker, founded the Joshua Light Show in 1967, integrating light and music at Fillmore East concerts featuring such groups as the Doors, the Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead. JLS music curator and producer Nick Hallett composed the score for the 360-degree “Fulldome,” with narration and vocals by Scissor Sister Ana Matronic (including a version of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”), percussion by Laraaji and Z’EV, and drone, electronic noise, chamber opera, psychedelia, and other musical forays courtesy of Hallett, sound designer Jeff Cook, and Oneida. Ana Matronic also works the liquid light loops, mixing colored liquid onto slides under a microscope that is projected off a mirror and onto the circular ceiling, adding a sort of living element to the visual collage being unfolded. White, Ana Matronic, and fellow artists Alyson Denny, Seth Kirby, Brock Monroe, Doug Pope, Bec Stupak, and Gary Panter use old-fashioned analog techniques in addition to more modern computer technology (“Why? Because we can,” White said) to achieve the mesmerizing, kaleidoscopic, even forensic effects, building like a jazz band at first feeling one another out, then coming together in exciting solos, duets, and other combinations that feed your head and swallow you whole if you let them, which you most definitely should. “Fulldome,” a kind of fantasy that is part Fantastic Voyage, part “Journey to the Center of Your Mind,” taking you through space and deep underwater — as well as anywhere else you are ready to psychically travel — will be presented Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at 9:00, preceded at 8:00 by an after-hours visit to the excellent interactive exhibition “Brain: The Inside Story.” Also, on June 4 at 6:00, the Joshua Light Show will be part of the World Science Festival program “Illuminating Light: The Journey of a Photon Through Time and Mind,” which will consist of a JLS performance, followed by a discussion with AMNH director of astrovisualization Carter Emmart, neuroscientist Joy Hirsch, and “Brain” curator Rob DeSalle ($15).