Art / News
New moon to rise over Balloon Fiesta
The artist behind the Park Street water slide, Leigh Woods’ abandoned fishing boat flotilla and street pianos across the world has announced his latest artwork set to launch at this year’s Balloon Fiesta.
Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon is an inflatable sphere seven metres in diameter which will be made by Bedminster’s Cameron Balloons and feature detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface.
It will float over the fiesta for the weekend and feature illuminated in the popular nightglows.
The mock moon, which will highlight ongoing lunar exploration and research, will also come with its own music, with a surround-sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones.
“Different cultures around the world have their own historical, cultural and religious relationships to the moon, so depending on where the Museum of The Moon is presented in the world, its meaning and interpretation will shift,” Jerram explains.
“As the artwork tours, new compositions will be created and performed by a range of established composers and musicians, so adding to the museum’s collection.
“Like the moon, this artwork acts as a ‘cultural mirror’ that allows us to observe and contemplate cultural differences around the world. As it tours, new stories and meanings will be collected and compared from one presentation to the next.”
After premiering at the Balloon Fiesta, it will go on to tour festivals around the UK and Europe.
The artwork has been created in partnership with the UK Space Agency, University of Bristol and The Association for Science and Discovery Centres, co-commissioned by several organisations, including At-Bristol and Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
Read more: Bristol Breakfasts – Luke Jerram