Truro Cathedral – Luke Jerram’s Mars

Truro Cathedral has announced it is bringing Luke Jerram’s touring artwork, Mars to the cathedral in October.

The exhibition will explore war and peace in these challenging times.

Mars: War and Peace at Truro Cathedral – 13 October through 2 November

Mars follows the success of Jerram’s Museum of the Moon and Gaia installations suspended in the nave of Truro Cathedral– both which attracted record crowds.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface. The Mars artwork is made from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data, Visible Earth series, NASA. At an approximate scale of 1:1 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 10 kilometres of the surface of Mars.

Mars was named by the ancient Romans as their god of war, as its reddish colour was reminiscent of blood. Accompanying the Mars sculpture is a newly created sound composition by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones. Featuring the sounds of seas, deserts and clips from NASA missions to Mars, it also hints at the sounds of war.

The artwork allows the visitor to view Mars from the air, as if satellite mapping and studying the surface in perfect detail. Every valley, crater, volcano and mountain is laid bare for inspection. Transport to this desert wasteland and imagine what it’s like to step foot on this incredible planet and in comparison, value life on Earth.

Truro has organised a range of events to accompany the installation. Find our more here.