"Helios" by Luke Jerram

I would love to see this amazing art installation is person! This enormous representation of our star is a companion piece to one of the moon that artist Luke Jerram created in 2017, previously here.  Of this current creation, the artist's website says:

Helios is a touring artwork of the Sun by UK artist Luke Jerram.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 72dpi detailed imagery* of the Sun’s surface. At an approximate scale of 1:200 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 2000km of the Sun’s surface.

It is very dangerous to look at the Sun directly as it can damage our eyesight, so Helios provides a safe opportunity for the public to get up close to, and inspect its extraordinarily detailed surface, including sunspots, spicules and filaments. The sculpture also features the source of the solar flares which caused the Northern lights to be visible from the UK in May 2024.

As well as highlighting the science of the Sun, the artwork allows us to consider its importance in all our lives; for light, warmth, energy for our planet and how our nearest star has inspired culture and religion throughout history, all around the world.

The installation is a fusion of solar imagery, animated lighting and a specially created surround sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson.

Over its lifetime, Helios will be presented in a number of different locations worldwide, both indoors and outdoors, so altering the experience and interpretation of the artwork. As it travels from place to place, it will collect personal responses, stories and mythologies, as well as highlighting the latest solar science.

Helios also acts as a venue, enabling hosts to create their own programme of Sun inspired events and activities to take place beneath the artwork, including orchestral and choral performances; space science lectures by astronauts; environmental and wellbeing discussions with scientists and activists; yoga; poetry readings; dance and theatre performances.

Helios, in ancient Greek mythology, is the god who personifies the Sun. He drove a four-horse chariot across the sky each day, giving the earth its hours and seasons.

*The imagery for the artwork has been compiled using approximately 400,000 photographs of the Sun provided by Astrophotographer Dr Stuart Green (taken between May 2018 to June 2024) and NASA observations of the Sun, with guidance from solar scientist, Professor Lucie Green of University College London (UCL).

Photo by Bec Hughes

Detail of the surface of Helios

Photo by Hugh Mothersole

Photo by James Dobson

Helios in Bath Assembly Rooms, England, Photo by Thomas Greetham

Helios at the Old Royal Naval College, London

Dinner under Helios

Silent disco under Helios by Jolade Olusanya

For the touring schedule, check Luke Jerram's site below:
https://my-helios.org/

CREATE

The Haze by teamLab

The art collective teamLab just unveiled a new light exhibit called The Haze utilizing light, fog, and sound to immerse viewers in an ephemeral vortex.

https://www.teamlab.art/

BEAUTY: Installation--Christopher Bauder

Light artist Christopher Bauder created a truly dazzling installation called Skalar which just showed at the CTM Festival 2018 in Berlin.

From the CTM site:

"Skalar is a central piece within light artist Christopher Bauder’s body of work, reflecting his deep fascination with light. Light and darkness as endless cycles of day and night define our perception of time and influence our emotions. In "SKALAR," light is treated as a solid material that can be sculpted and shaped to architectural dimensions, evoking abstract emotional associations. Intertwined with musician and composer Kangding Ray’s tireless exploration of textures, rhythm, and sound design, the silence of darkness is filled with iridescent formations of spatial light and sound. Measuring 45m in length, 20m in width, and 10m in height, the generative luminous structure encompasses a perfectly synchronous interplay of 65 motorized mirrors, 90 moving lights, and a multichannel sound system – elevating creative possibilities to a whole new level.

Christopher Bauder is an artist and designer working in the fields of light and installation art, media design, and scenography. He focuses on the translation of bits and bytes into objects and environments, and vice versa. In 2004 he founded the multidisciplinary art and design studio WHITEvoid, which specializes in interactivity, media, interior architecture, and electronic engineering.

Few musicians manage to explore the convergence between techno and experimental as successfully as David Letellier, aka Kangding Ray. The aesthetic domains of his home labels, Raster-Noton and Stroboscopic Artefacts, epitomize his complex sound; an aesthetic that tests boundaries, evolving tirelessly in its exploration of texture, rhythm, and sound design.

The former power plant, Kraftwerk Berlin, will house this massive light and sound sculpture, fully immersing the audience into an otherworldly experience. Built approximately at the same time as the Berlin Wall, the building stood abandoned for many years before Dimitri Hegemann gave it a second life by relocating his world-renowned techno club, Tresor there."

Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of this post!

http://www.christopherbauder.com/
http://www.whitevoid.com/
http://www.ctm-festival.de