FACT commission which flew flock of Geese to the Moon wins Prix Ars Electronica award

Visitors to FACT earlier this year may well remember the work of Agnes Meyer-Brandis. Inspired by the first ever science fiction novel, Francis Godwin’s The Man in the Moone, the artist bred 11 "moon geese"  and flew them to the moon, carrying a chariot.

Raising them from birth and giving them astronauts’ names, she trained her geese to fly, took them on expeditions and housed them in a remote moon analogue habitat in Pollinaria, Italy.

Back in Gallery No 1 at FACT, visitors to the exhibition could see and interact with the geese in real time from a control room.

Now this bizarre but highly engaging project has won an award of distinction at the "Oscars of computer art", the Prix Ars Electronica.

Now in its 25th year, the awards are open to anyone who uses computers as a medium to implement and design creative projects at the interface of art, technology and society. Agnes, who lives and works in Cologne, was recognised in the hybrid art category.

The ceremony held in Linz, Austria last week, was part of a wider series of celebrations also consisting an avant garde festival, a museum, and a media art lab.