Best Drug-Free Trip

When The Flaming Lips’ interactive sculpture installation came to Fort Houston back in May, it seemed like gallerygoers were in for a silly art stunt in which they would climb into the mouth of a sculpture that looked like the god Zardoz fabricated from Warhol’s silver balloons. Once inside, viewers would be treated to an audiovisual display featuring The Flaming Lips’ music, of course. I even watched a video recorded from inside the piece before I went to the opening, and still felt mostly meh. But the thing itself was a complete surprise. The sculpture was charmingly weird and skanky, and the interior installation was unexpectedly intense. In an age of overrated everything, is there anything better than art that exceeds expectations? JOE NOLAN

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