Interview: Luke Jerram

From free-for-all pianos via Park Street waterslides to abandoned fishing boats in Leigh Woods, Bristol artist Luke Jerram has an unerring eye for arresting, brilliantly accessible and imagination-capturing public art projects. 

Luke’s latest creation, which makes its debut at August’s Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, is a seven-metre inflatable replica of the moon, featuring detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface.

Floating above the fiesta for the weekend, it will also feature in the nightglows – and festivalgoers will be encouraged to ‘moonbathe’ beneath it. Here’s more on Luke’s lunar marvel.

How did this beautiful artwork come about, Luke?
The Museum of the Moon came from an idea I had for a while ago when I was developing another artwork, Tide, back in 2001. At the beginning of the year I had time in my diary to push a new project like this forward, so I’ve spent months getting the support and partners in place to make it all happen.
Here in Bristol we have the second highest tidal range in the world: there is a 13-metre gap between high and low tide. So I think about the Moon’s influence every time I cycle to work over the river each day.

What’s the source of your fascination with the moon?
The moon has always acted as a cultural mirror, reflecting humanity’s cultures and beliefs: it has been seen as a god, it’s been used as a calendar, it’s inspired literature, poetry and music through the ages. For much of human history the moon was the only night-time source of light, and thus vital for night-time navigation. Living in modern cities, we’re surrounded by tall buildings and artificial lighting and somehow we’ve become disconnected with the night sky.

Tell us about the Museum’s genesis and construction process.
I’m quite particular about how all my artworks get made. There are companies in China that can knock out an inflatable moon for just a few thousand pounds, but I wanted something of high quality and Bristol’s Cameron Balloons are creating something that has been engineered and made bespoke.
The Museum of the Moon artwork will be touring the world for the next five to ten years and will be presented in all sorts of different ways. It will be a focal point of Europe’s largest hot-air balloon festival here in Bristol, paraded through a city’s darkened streets at night, then used as a venue for musicians to perform beneath. The Moon will also be suspended at night, a metre and a half above the water of a local swimming pool, allowing people to swim out to view it close up. So over the next few years the Museum of the Moon will be popping up and presented in all sorts of different ways.

What sensations, thoughts, feelings might your Moon provoke?
I’m trying to create something that is beautiful and invites questions. I also try to make my projects accessible for all. A four-year-old will be able to appreciate the Moon in one way: astronomers, artists, poets, writers in other ways. Composer Dan Jones has written a new soundtrack as people moonbathe beneath the installation, so the experience is multi-sensory. I’m hoping people will feel moved – and reconnected with the night sky.

Waterslides, abandoned fishing boats, a scale-model moon: you have some brilliant ideas. How does your brain work?
I think we all have brilliant ideas: the trick is holding onto them and ensuring they come into being. Often we erase or ignore the visions and ideas we have: we don’t even allow them to the front of our minds because they are just too crazy. Holding on to these seeds, allowing them to grow, pushing ideas through to fruition… I think that’s the trick.

See Luke’s Museum of the Moon at Bristol International Balloon Fiesta from Aug 11-14. For more info, visit my-moon.org