MUSEUM OF THE MOON

It is a powerful sight that opens up as you enter the Graz parish church: the moon. Luke Jerram’s light sculpture “Museum of the Moon” shows a replica of the moon with a diameter of six meters. Each centimeter replicates around five kilometers of the moon’s surface, whose craters, mountains and valleys become visible to viewers. In the experience here, NASA images of the moon merge with soft moonlight radiating from the interior, acoustically complemented by a surround sound composition by award-winning composer Dan Jones. In the latter, sounds from the Apollo moon missions are interwoven with classical music, Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”, as well as sounds of nature. The “Museum of the Moon” project has been shown in more than 300 exhibitions in around 30 countries and has already inspired millions of people. The viewer’s interpretation changes from place to place – on the one hand a sign of our cultural differences, on the other hand proof of how much the moon touches people across all borders and thus connects them.

Parish church

Biography:

Luke Jerram’s multidisciplinary practice includes the creation of sculptures, installations and live art projects. He lives in the UK but has worked internationally since 1997 and has created a number of extraordinary art projects that excite and inspire people around the world. In 2023 alone, he had over 115 exhibitions in 27 different countries, which were visited by more than 3 million people.

Credits:

The Museum of the Moon project was commissioned by several creative organizations brought together by Luke Jerram and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. These include Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, Brighton Festival, Without Walls, Cork Midsummer Festival, We The Curious, Lakes Alive, Provincial Domain Dommelhof, Les Tombées de la Nuit, Rennes and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The artwork was created in collaboration with the UK Space Agency, the University of Bristol and the Association of Science and Discovery Centres. The Astrogeology Science Centre in the USA produced the 23-metre-wide, high-resolution image of the moon, which was taken by a NASA satellite with a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.

This installation was realized with the kind support of Grazer Wechselseitige Versicherung .