Today I visited Museum of the Moon, a piece of artwork created by Luke Jerram. The piece of artwork is a 7m diameter model of the moon featuring NASA imagery covering the surface of the moon. The model is to a 1:500,000 scale, meaning that each centimetre of the model represents 5 kilometres of the actual moons surface.
This video captures the reactions from the viewers, these reactions varying from awe to being soothed, relaxed and calmed. Some of the audience even laid under the artwork to relax and look up at the piece of work above them. The Moon created by Luke Jerram was accompanied by music composed by Dan Jones who is a BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winner who as produced musical scores that were used in Sir David Attenborough's documentary, 'Life of Mammals'. This music provided a soothing atmosphere for the viewers.
There were several posters around the Cathedral that displayed information about the artwork and the other moon landings that have taken place so far:
My opinion on the Museum of the Moon was overall underwhelming, this was mainly due to the fact that I was expecting it to be a detailed sculpture and the actual art piece was a smooth sphere that used the image to produce the illusion of texture.
The Museum of the Moon has been presented at many different venues including:
-Nelson Provincial Museum, New Zealand
-Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, USA
-Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria
-Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
-Contemporary Calgary, Canada
-Art Palm Beach, Florida USA
-City of Perth, Australia
-Rochester Cathedral, UK
The Moon has inspired many artists throughout history and has many different versions of its origins and stories about it depending on cultural backgrounds. In most cultures the moon is seen as the opposite of the sun as it being a symbol of the night. In Western and Chinese cultures the moon is depicted as having feminine energy, with the sun as masculine energy due to it providing a stronger amount of light. On the other hand African and Japanese cultures depict the moon as an even stronger form of energy.
In Neopaganism, it is believed that there is a Triple Goddess which was made up of three figures merged into one. This Triple Goddess was the Goddess of the moon. Their symbol was made up of three stages of the moon cycle, these being the waxing, full and waning moon stages.
The waxing moon represented the Maiden which symbolised expansion and promise.
The full moon represented the Mother that presented, power, stability and life.
The waning moon represented the Crone which provided wisdom and death ultimately.
There are hundreds of lunar deities, these are Gods or Goddesses of the moon coming from different cultures around the world and throughout time. The moon is described as a 'cultural mirror', as what is seen depends on what culture you come from. For example a full moon is a symbol of peace and family however in the west it is a symbol of romance and exploration.
To me the moon can mean many things, when looking at the moon I can get the sensation of mystery and unease due to horror films generally using a full moon to set the scene and atmosphere.
For example this is an example of a horror film which uses a full moon to set an uneasy and tense atmosphere for the scene.
The moon is a symbol across the world that represents a massive variety of different characteristics and personas in each culture. It has an impact on everyone in someway.
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