Culture

Mars attacks: Luke Jerram brings red planet artwork to Kensington & Chelsea Festival

Man in red shirt looks up at Luke Jerram's Mars artwork inside St John the Baptist church London

One of the standout attractions of this year’s Kensington & Chelsea Festival is Mars: War & Peace, a spectacular touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. 

Measuring 7m in diameter, the sphere features detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface, including vallies, craters, volcanoes, and mountains. At an approximate scale of 1:1 million, each centimetre of the internally lit globe represents 10 kilometres of the surface of the red planet.

Mars was unveiled at a VIP launch in the spectacular surroundings of St John the Baptist Church, near Shepherd’s Bush, London.

The Luxe Review attended and was wowed by the experience. Suspended in the air, the Insta-friendly globe invites observers to study the surface of the red planet in detail. 

Accompanying the Mars sculpture will be a specially created sound composition by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones…

Accompanying the Mars sculpture will be a specially 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 incorporates the sounds of distant bombing and people marching, as if to war; a novel fusion of space photography, light and surround sound.  

While Mars is in the church, St John the Baptist will play host to a concert series with orchestra performing from July 22 to July 30.

Mars follows on from Luke Jerram’s other touring astronomical artworks, Museum of the Moon and Gaia.  “The artwork transports us to this desert wasteland, to imagine what it’s like to step foot on this incredible planet,” says the artist.

Luke Jerram’s previous works at the Kensington and Chelsea Festival attracted up to 3,000 visitors per day.  

The installation will appear at three different sites across the festival: St John the Baptist Church (W14 8AH) from July 22 to July30; All Saints’ Church (W11 1JS) from July 31 to August 8, and Jubilee Square (W8 7NX), an outdoor setting, from August 10 to August 13.

While tickets are required, all locations will be free to visit.

By presenting Mars in a variety of locations, the experience and interpretation of the artwork changes, says its creator.  

After orbiting the Kensington and Chelsea Festival, Mars is heading to Germany, where it will appear at arts and science exhibitions, including Bremen (Aug 22 – September 15); Potsdam (September 16 –  October 9) and Bielefeld (October 10-31). 

The Kensington and Chelsea Festival runs through July to August 31 2023.

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About Steve May

Creator of Home Cinema Choice magazine, and Editor of The Luxe Review, Steve muses and reviews for Trusted Reviews, T3, Home Cinema Choice, Games Radar, Good Housekeeping, Louder Sounds, StereoNet and Boat International. He’s also the editor of professional home cinema website Inside CI. He's on Twitter/X, Tiktok and Instagram as @SteveMay_UK