Luke Jerram: Floating Earth

The art installation shows a huge three-dimensional depiction of the globe, ten metres in diameter. It floats on the water of the Maschteich, as if it had fallen from the sky. With the onset of darkness the installation begins to glow, and shows us in detail our continents, oceans and cloud formations. The imagery was supplied by NASA.

This sensational work by the British artist Luke Jerram has been enchanting people around the world. It is an invitation to gain a new and perhaps different view of our planet, and encourages us to question our relationship to it.

Floating Earth shows the fragility and vulnerability of the planet. Jerram uses the so-called overview effect to achieve this. For unlike the moon, which we have always seen in the sky, the NASA Apollo 8 mission was the first moment when the earth became visible to its people as a precious blue sphere floating in space. This moment changed our relationship to the earth forever.