One of the most exciting projects to appear at the Kensington & Chelsea Festival in 2023 will be Mars: War & Peace, the touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram.
Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface. At an approximate scale of 1:1 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 10 kilometres of the surface of Mars.
The artwork allows us to view Mars from the air, as though we are a satellite mapping and studying the surface in perfect detail. Every valley, crater, volcano, and mountain are laid bare for us to inspect. We are transported to this desert wasteland, to imagine what it’s like to step foot on this incredible planet and in comparison, really value our life on Earth.
Mars was named by the ancient Romans for their god of war because its reddish colour was reminiscent of blood. Accompanying the Mars: War & Peace sculpture is 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. This new soundtrack allows viewers the opportunity to reflect on the current conflict in Ukraine and the history and notion of war.
“Mars: War & Peace follows on from my other touring astronomical artworks Museum of the Moon and Gaia, allowing a close encounter with the Martian planet. Presented with a new soundtrack for the first time at Kensington & Chelsea Festival, I hope that visitors will feel transported to its inhospitable desert wasteland, whilst also being faced to contemplate the bleak realities of war on our planet.”
Luke Jerram
The installation is a fusion of Mars imagery, light and surround sound composition. Each venue also programmes their own series of events to contemplate not just the beauty of the red planet and wonder of space science, but also to highlight injustice and the effects of war.
Mars: War & Peace follows the hugely successful appearance of Luke Jerram’s previous works at the Kensington and Chelsea Festival each attracted up to 3,000 visitors per day. This summer will be the first time that Mars: War & Peace has been installed in a Church setting and a new soundscape has been created especially for the festival.
The installation will appear at three different sites across the festival:
- St John the Baptist Church (W14 8AH) from Saturday 22 to Sunday 30 July 2023
- All Saints’ Church (W11 1JS) from Monday 31 July to Tuesday 8 August
- Jubilee Square (W8 7NX) – an outdoor setting from Thursday 10 August to Sunday 13 August
- Tickets will be required, but all locations will be free to visit.
