Satellite of love

Despite the efforts of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, few of us will be going to the moon anytime soon. Happily, multidisciplinary artist Luke Jerram has provided a solution for frustrated cosmic explorers: the Museum of the Moon. Rather than a ‘museum’, it’s a seven-metre moon replica, made from detailed NASA imagery of our nearest celestial neighbour. Or, as Luke says: “a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones”.

Since 2016, Museum of the Moon has toured the globe – there are several exhibiting at the same time – inspiring and delighting people in cities from Barcelona to Liverpool, Edinburgh to Philadelphia, and about a thousand places in between. Here, we talk to Luke about the inspiration for his work, how people perceive it around the world, and why he’s still fascinated by all things lunar.

Hi Luke! Why did you begin this project?
I live in Bristol. We’ve got the second-highest tidal range in Europe – there’s a 13 metre gap between high and low tide on the Avon Cut. Cycling to work every day, I noticed this, and that gave me an interest in how the moon affects the earth. About 15 years ago, I had an idea to make a replica of the moon. But the printing technology hadn’t been invented, so I had to wait 15 years for it to catch up!

“We’ve been staring at the moon for 200,000 years. To provide people with the opportunity to see every mountain and crater in perfect detail is fantastic”

Tell us about your ‘moon’
The ‘moon’ is seven metres in diameter. It’s made from high-resolution NASA imagery and is half a million times smaller than the real thing: one centimetre equals five kilometres on the moon’s surface. It’s a sculpture – with a surround-sound composition – and a venue. We’ve held many events under it like choir recitals, yoga lessons and concerts.

Where did you first exhibit Museum of the Moon?
It was presented in a church in Kendal, a town in the Lake District. It felt amazing to see it in that space, and I knew it had the potential to go places. Since then, it’s toured the world. We’ve had over 300 exhibitions!

What’s the appeal of the moon for humanity?
We’ve been staring at the moon for 200,000 years. To provide people with the opportunity to see every mountain and crater in perfect detail is fantastic. Usually, we only see one side of the moon – it was only in 1959 that the Soviets sent the Luna 3 satellite to photograph the other side – but this artwork lets you see it all.

Do people react differently to it – depending on location?
If I’m putting the work in a science museum, people will look at it from a scientific perspective. But in cathedrals, visitors think of it from the spiritual side. It’s going to Japan soon as part of the mid-autumn festival, and the moon is a vital part of this. We’re also taking it to India, as the moon is significant in Hinduism.

Do you have any future plans?
We’ve got five artworks touring at the moment, but we also make them for museums as permanent fixtures. The smallest is three metres in diameter; the largest is 10m. We’ve also constructed a floating ‘earth’ – exhibited in the Albert Dock in Liverpool for Eurovision – giving people a sense of what we can lose if we mess up the planet.

After all these years, are you still inspired by the moon?
Yes, I was looking at it last night, and there was a beautiful full moon. The Indian space agency landed on the moon’s south pole in September; some craters in that area don’t get any sun, so there’s ice there. And that could be useful if they build a space station. Humanity is returning to the moon – and will use it as a stepping stone to get to Mars. I find that incredibly exciting!