The moon divides in my house. Let me tell you.
On one side, you have my husband and son, They are intrigued by the moon and the night skies in a stargazing, scientific fashion. Think Brian Cox documentaries, a fascination with space travel and all of that.
On the other side you have my daughters and I. We love the imagery of the moon, believe She represents things that science can’t define and often allow our lives to be guided by the lunar phase. Goodbye astrology and science, hello moon magic.
What we can all agree on is that the moon is fascinating and inspiring. So when I heard the moon was coming to Marlborough in the form of the Museum of the Moon, I booked tickets for the whole family. A little note on Marlborough; I’ve blogged about it previously. If you missed the post I’ll link it here, I’d love you to have a read. It’s a lovely, lovely town. I highly recommend it as a place to visit. But back to the moon…
Museum of the Moon is a touring artwork by UK artist and Royal Astronomical Society Fellow, Luke Jerram. He was inspired to create the MOTM after living in Bristol and observing the effects of the tides on the river Avon each day.
The moon on display is essentially a huge helium balloon, printed with an image of the moon surface. It measures seven meters in diameter and features detailed moon surface imagery as captured by a NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The moon-balloon is smooth, but such is the detail and the presentation, your eyes won’t let you believe that. The whole experience fused together with a clever combination of moon imagery, lighting, carefully chosen host venues and a soundtrack composed by BAFTA winning Dan Jones.
The moon visited Marlborough as part of the town Dark Skies Festival. The week long event was devoted to star gazing, story telling, art, talks and tours. As the center piece, the MOTM was installed in the Marlborough College Chapel. A beautiful location for a jaw dropping artwork, and the college campus isn’t bad either. Lots of historic buildings, red brick and leafy loveliness.
The installation has toured far and wide. There are eight moons in total and they have displayed across the globe. The Museum of the Moon has displayed in the Natural History Museum in London, hung over water in Milan. It drew in 60,000 visitors in a week in Liverpool Cathedral and has presented as a fallen moon in the water at Bristol Docks. It’s even featured on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, hanging in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom while celebs did their dancing beneath. It even has it’s own Instagram hashtag #MuseumOfTheMoon.
So the moon has travelled far and wide and the Marlborough Dark Skies event is finished. But the chance to see it has not passed. The Museum of the Moon continues it’s tour, domestically and internationally. The MOTM will be visiting Bath and Grimsby towards the end of this year and onto Lincoln in 2022. The exhibition will also be in The Netherlands, the USA and Canada.
Find details of tour dates here.
More on Luke Jerram here
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy reading about another large scale art exhibition at the Leipzig Panometer.
Helen x
It looks like a wonderful experience, Helen.
It was a lovely thing to get along too. Especially after the last few years when community events have been thin on the ground.
🤗💕
I’m with you on the moon. It’s ethereal and eternal and is capable of stopping you in your tracks if out at night and suddenly there it is looking down, watching us watching it. Few other things in our busy world which are both commonplace and yet unique do that
Absolutely!
We saw this in Harrogate, in a church which appears closely to resemble the one where you saw it. It really works, doesn’t it, and appeals to the scientist and story-maker alike?
It really does. I love the range of venues that it’s been shown at.
Sounds fab! Plus the photos too are stunning. It must have been awesome, Helen.
Thank you, I enjoyed it very much.
There is definitely something very magical about the moon. One of my favourite albums of all time is ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ – Pink Floyd! I would have loved to see this installation.
The moon is a muse, she’s inspired so many musically and creatively. That album still endures, one of my daughters has the cover image up in her room! Definitely see it if you have the chance, it’s a very intriguing installation.
You whetted my appetite for moon-gazing but the Museum isn’t coming my way, unfortunately. NASA broke my heart when they put a man on the moon. Until then it was that marvellous, romantic sphere in the sky about which so many of my favourite songs had been written and after they’d landed it was just another bit of scraggy ground over which men will eventually fight.
Let’s just ignore NASA and keep the moon as a whimsical, romantic thing. I’m Team Moon Magic, never mind the science stuff!
What a stunning moon installation Helen. Hopefully I might get an opportunity to experience it too at some point in the future.
I hope you do, it’s really worth a visit.
Very cool. I hope it comes to the States. Nice post!
Thank you, it has visited various locations in the states so I hope it finds its way to a place near you. It’s really worth going to see.
This looks stunning! Such a cool experience 🙂