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SUNDAY

The Society of Freemasons masterminded the Jack the Ripper killings. George H.W. Bush and associates planned Reagan’s attempted assassination. Mankind is secretly controlled by dinosaurlike aliens who thrive on blood to maintain their human disguise. In an era in which the White House disgorges lies upon the American public with woeful frequency and ease, conspiracy theories seem as plausible as any other “news” scrolling below Wolf Blitzer. In their latest exhibition, artists Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick take on perennially popular conspiracy fodder: the alleged 1969 moon landing. Forsaking the staid notion of a Nevada soundstage, the artists instead suggest that Armstrong & Co. broke orbit all right, but in their travels happened upon a lost Edwardian lunar expedition thriving on the cratery orb. With staged photographs and installation works as artifacts, Kahn and Selesnick create a fictional world of art-nouveau astronauts. Bookmark Gravity’s Rainbow for the time being and catch “Apollo Prophecies” by appointment (to Oct. 22; see City List for other dates) at Irvine Contemporary, 1710 Connecticut Ave. Free. (202) 332-8767. (Kara McPhillips)