Article Source: The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society
Last Updated: 27 March 2023 12:33
Image: Gaia at Natural History Museum, 2018
The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society (CRMS) will mark the 50th anniversary of its creation on 4 October 1973 with a six-month programme of cultural events at Mackintosh Queen’s Cross, the highlight of which is the awe-inspiring installation ‘Gaia’ (The Earth), a touring artwork, by Luke Jerram. This is the first chance for the general public to see this extraordinary installation which was last seen in Glasgow by attendees at COP26. Jerram’s Museum of the Moon installation was in the Church in 2018 as part of Mackintosh150 - 150th anniversary of Mackintosh’s birth - and was enjoyed by thousands of visitors to the venue.
Gaia – named after the Greek Goddess of Earth - will be open to the public from Saturday 13th May 2023 and run until 24th June. A series of events to celebrate Gaia will run alongside the installation, including Lost Map Records who will host a concert entitled: ‘Lost Map Under Gaia’ on Wednesday 31st May. The event will be a showcase of music from the record label, based on the Isle of Eigg. Acts featured are Amy May Ellis (full band); Pictish Trail (solo); L.T. Leif and Lost Map DJs. The event will run from 7.30pm – 10.30pm and tickets cost £13. A full events programme of concerts talks and activities for schools and children will be announced in the coming weeks.
Gaia is 2.1 million times smaller than the real Earth with each centimetre of the internally lit sculpture describing 21km of the Earth’s surface. By standing 181m away from the artwork, the public will be able to see the Earth as it appears from the moon. Measuring six metres in diameter and created from 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, the artwork provides the opportunity to see our planet, floating in three dimensions. The Earth artwork slowly revolves and a specially made sound composition by BAFTA award-winning composer, Dan Janes is played alongside the sculpture. Unlike the moon, which we have been gazing at for millennia, the first-time humankind got to see the Earth in its entirety as a blue marble floating in space was in 1972 with NASA’s Apollo 17 mission.
Commenting on the artwork, Luke Jerram, said: “Congratulations to the CRM Society on their 50th anniversary. We’re delighted to present Gaia and hope visitors 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. Halfway through the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, we urgently need to wake up, and change our behaviour. We need to quickly make the changes necessary, to prevent Climate Change.”
Stuart Robertson, Director, CRM Society, commented: “We are thrilled to present this world class art installation ‘Gaia’ by Luke Jerram in the Mackintosh Queen’s Cross as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations. We had Museum of the Moon in the Church in 2018, so we thought it was fitting to have the Earth here for our golden anniversary. We welcome the people of Glasgow and beyond to view this extraordinary spectacle in Mackintosh’s only built church.”
Tickets for Gaia are now on sale through Eventbrite: mackintosh.eventbrite.co.uk
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