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09
Jul
WATCH: Six-metre art installation Gaia comes to Harrogate
A giant globe installation is hanging proudly in a Harrogate church this week.
The artwork, called Gaia, was created by Luke Jerram and is being displayed at St Wilfrid’s Church as part of an international tour.
You can find a video of Gaia shot by Richard Maude below.
The installation is also part of Harrogate International Festival’s HACS Harrogate Music Festival, which is supported by North Yorkshire Council.
The globe, which measures six metres in diameter, is a 3D illumination made using Nasa imagery of the earth’s surface. It is supposed to replicate how the earth looks from space.
Gaia also features a composition created by Bafta award-winning composer, Dan Jones, which will be played as the installation slowly revolves.
Suspended from the ceiling, Gaia has hung over a series of festival performances at the church over the last few days.
Mr Jerram said:
I wanted to make the artwork seem as authentic and realistic as possible to give the public the opportunity to see how our planet looks from space. For most people, this will be their most intimate, personal and closest encounter they will ever have with the whole of our planet.
I hope visitors to Gaia get to see the earth as if from space, an incredibly beautiful and precious place. An ecosystem we urgently need to look after – our only home.
Gaia hovers above the organ before Monday night's performance by Anthony Gray.
Gaia has previously been displayed at the Natural History Museum in London and the Brisbane Festival in Australia.
It will be on display locally until July 12 and is open to the public for ticketed hourly sessions.
Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said:
Luke is one of the country’s most talented and pioneering artists and Gaia is among the most astonishing installations I’ve ever seen.
We passionately believe in the power of art and culture to bring people together and have a proven track record of delivering world-class spectacles in public spaces that do exactly that, at the same time as putting Harrogate firmly on the map as a thriving cultural hub.
The arts can captivate and inspire as well as challenge our way of thinking, and I hope as many people as possible come to see Gaia in St Wilfrid’s and marvel at its brilliance.
Mr Jerram's sculpture of the sun, called Helios, will be on display at Fountains Abbey near Ripon in October.
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